A Tainted Soul
by silvermist225
Summary: Edward Cullen is an assassin. He plots and he hunts. He has done so for 4 years. His next victim: Isabella Swan. Set on the task by Jane Volturi, the most feared criminal known, he is faced between defying the one criminal you never defy and having to run for the rest of his life or killing the innocent, doe-eyed girl he'd fallen in love with.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

You always have a choice.

I remember Alice telling me that, I remember my parents telling me that, I remember Emmett telling me that. Alice, Emmett, Mom, Dad. . . They all cared about me, they cared about their brother and their son. They cared so much that they let me make the wrong decision in hopes that I would realize how terribly wrong I had been, in hopes that I would come back to them myself without their threats hanging over my head, in hopes that I would come back and change my life around for the better. They had hoped and that was the problem.

One thing about hope: it's always misplaced.

Their hope was terribly misplaced. More misplaced than any hope I've ever seen and I've seen a great deal of hope in my life.

I had a choice, but I picked the wrong choice. Time and time again, I kept picking the wrong choice. I could say it was in my genes, but the only relative I'd ever known about who went this far wrong was a great uncle who drank himself to death.

My wrong was different then being an alcoholic or a druggie. My wrong wasn't due to stress or a failing marriage or work problems, I committed consciously to my wrong with full knowledge of what it was. My wrong included more adrenaline, more precision, more intelligence. . .and more jail time in the event that I am caught. But I won't get caught, because I am so far wrong that I am protected by my wrongs.

It makes no sense. I don't ever attempt to explain it even to myself.

All I know is that today, in this very moment, my wrongs somehow made a right and that right rid me of my protection from my wrongs and now I was paying for every single one of my wrongs with _her_ life.

There was nothing more unjust than that. I should be paying for my wrongs, and in a way, I was. But she was also paying for my wrongs much more than I was and that was worse.

That's the beauty, I suppose, of all my wrongs.

They only ever make a right in order to make you pay.


	2. October 15

Sunday, October 15th:

Edward POV:

I waited, my fingers tapping impatiently against the cold wood of the desk. It was clients like these that bothered me the most, the ones that claimed time of mine—something that could never be given back—and wasted it on their "precious" excuses. This client was supposed to be someone who was feared, someone who had the most power of all the others—yet they, just like all my other clients, were late. I eventually got up, beginning to pace around the small room. The clocked read 11:46. I had to be out of here in fourteen minutes, either with or without the new job, or I risked someone getting involved in something they couldn't get out of. I'd pity them if I needed to kill them—the maid, or even a concierge bringing up the luggage of the actual person this room belonged to for the week. I didn't care at this point, I could easily get another job that paid just as much and that poor maid or concierge would just join a very long list of kills.

But I wanted this job. That was why I couldn't possibly leave. I wanted this job and I would gladly kill a concierge or a maid if I needed to.

The words slipped into my head easily and I hadn't been able to rid myself of them in weeks. I _wanted_ this job, or rather I _needed_ this job. Not for the money or the fame, but for the thrill and excitement of working for such a dangerous woman.

Her name was Jane Volturi, daughter of Aro Volturi—a man just as dangerous. She made her name by working against all of those who worked for organized crime. She committed the same crime in a more fashionable manner. She made it her mission to allow no one to create a crime scene unless her name was on a contract and she was getting a cut, and she succeeded. Every couple of days she was meeting with an assassin to dispose of criminals she no longer felt were loyal to her. Assassins kissed the roads she walked on, begging to have jobs by her. They knew the risks; if they screwed up in the slightest bit, they were dead. But they took the jobs anyway, because if they succeeded it meant fame and money. Assassins who got jobs by her were the best and that made them wanted by others, which in the end meant more fame and money. And bragging points. Criminals of organized crime feared and hated Jane Volturi more than anything, but they submitted knowing if they didn't they were as good as dead. She was dangerous and feared, submitting only to her father.

Her father, Aro, hardly ever came out of his shell of a castle unless he was desperately needed. This only ever occurred when Jane couldn't handle a job, which has never happened.

I never cared much about her, I was content with the jobs I had—criminals that had no name but had money to give.

I took their money, did the job, and I never worried that they would come for me because they had no name and no expectations to live up to by others. They never needed to prove themselves, so they never cared about those who may not be as loyal to them as before. Most of those jobs were just out of greed rather than a lack of loyalty.

There were stages of criminals that assassins had, I took pride in doing the jobs for the lowest criminals that no other assassin enjoyed doing. It was an easy job and I took my time, hunted my prey—I enjoyed the slow, calm hunt with the excitement of the end. This job would be nothing like those, it was thrilling from the moment I received a note from Jane Volturi telling me to come to this hotel at an exact time to receive a job. It would be thrilling until the moment the job was done. My only fear was not that I would be unable to complete the job, but that when I returned to my old jobs they would be boring and I would continue to seek exhilarating and dangerous jobs.

Right now, however, this job was no more exciting than it was an inconvenience.

I sighed, pacing around some more before settling back in the chair at the desk. I continued to pound my fingers against the wood, watching the seconds tick by on the clock.

9:54. Annoyance bubbled through me.

I was in the midst of deciding how much longer to wait for my late appointment when there was two brisk knocks on the door. I jumped up, checking in the peak hole quickly before deciding that the person behind the door was a guard of Jane's and then I opened the door.

"Edward Cullen."

"Yes." my answer was harsh, as it usually was.

"Lose the attitude, Jane'll kill you herself." he pushed through me, walking in followed by two other guards and than a short, blonde haired girl known and feared as Jane Volturi.

"I won't apologize for the delay," Jane's voice was high pitched and childish. She was only a child—about 3 years younger than me at 18. She _looked_ like a child too, she must have been at least a foot and a half shorter than I was. "I'm sure you are eagerly waiting to know what it is I called you for."

"I was hoping you would give an explanation for your tardiness, even if it was is a lie." I retort, crossing my arms. "My time is valuable."

Jane laughs loudly. "More valuable than the job I have?" she sighs contently, "I wish that some knew just what kind of opportunity I was offering them."

"Then let's stop wasting my time—what is the job?" curiosity got the better of me.

"I work on my own time, Cullen." Jane's voice was light, but I was pissing her off and I knew it. "I'm sure you get that," Jane gestured to the clock, reminding me of her tardiness.

"Yes, we all know that. Word spreads fast in the assassin community. I could have gotten two jobs that paid just as much as you in the time it's taken you to enter this room. So please, out with it before I decide you are no longer worth it."

"Hmm, impatience. How. . ." she pauses, thinking with her finger lightly to her chin, "worthy—I suppose that's a good word—of an assassin are you if you spell impatience?"

"You should know. You called me out here. I assume you do your research, though it's any wonder why you picked me out of all people."

"Yes, I did do my research. This job is rather close to home for me." Jane says merrily, tapping her chin lightly with her index finger. "I wanted someone that nobody would miss. . .Have it go wrong." She throws me a light smile, turning and walking the distance of the room. "I'm sure you understand that."

It bothered me how lightly Jane spoke of _my_ assassination. But I knew I should expect this. A warning from Jane is the most she ever does before she kills you. I should be almost grateful that she gave me this one chance, though I hardly was. If anything, I was beginning to regret that I ever agreed to this job.

My mind began to wonder as Jane remained silent, had there every been a person to refuse Jane? If there had, the person must not have lived long to tell the tale of their almost-famous assassination mission. Perhaps, it was a punishment—rather than an accomplishment—to be picked by Jane. Once she set her eyes on you, she never took them off.

"Yes, no one will miss me. Now, let's talk about the job." I was suddenly desperate to be away from Jane, her powerful eyes glared at mine. I was never one to feel intimidated, or even scared, but here I was wishing that Jane would simply leave without ever telling me the mission.

"Patience, Edward." Jane soothes. "I don't want to have to kill you before you screw everything up."

"Now why would you do that?" I question sourly.

Jane laughs brightly. "Oh, Edward. You are quite naive. This job is close to home for me, I don't need anyone knowing that until it is resolved. In the likely event that you do either walk away without agreeing to what I have to offer or you agree and then commit a heinous mistake, you should be warned that your fate is set. I have a very large list of assasins that are highly sought out and overall better than you. Consider this a test from me, of your worthiness and your skill. I don't doubt that any one of my contacts could properly dispose of this. . ." Jane paused, searching for a word. " _person_. . ." she spit the word out like it tasted vile, "however, I did want to see what you have to offer."

"Why?"  
"You spend too much of your time in the dumps. You serve the pathetic, which in turn makes you pathetic. Someone of your skill should not be pathetic. Consider me your savior."  
"Hardly." I chuckle darkly.

Jane glares at me coldly, her blue eyes narrowed. "Savior or not, you're here which means you want it."

"I like change every now and then." I say, attempting to make my voice light and nonchalant.

"Yes, I did notice that." Jane tells me, thinking deeply for a moment. "Your history is quite extensive, a very good read as well." she sighs again, smiling. "Enough about you, we've been wasting time."

One of Jane's body guards pulls a yellow manila envelope from his suit.

"Her name is Isabella Swan. You don't need to know anything about what she did or who she is. She lives in this general area, and that's all the information I will give. You can understand why I picked you, considering you are quite knowledgeable about Washington. You have one week, no time more than that." Jane tells me, crossing her arms over her chest.

I take the envelope from Jane, pulling out a single picture of this girl. She was young, with thick brown hair and large brown eyes. "I'll have it done." I say, dropping the picture back into the envelope.

"Good, I expect results, Cullen. I do not give anything if there results are less than what I want. In fact, I'll take quite a bit if they lack. Understood?"

"Yes."

"I will do the honors of checking you out of the hotel. It should take you some time to track down the girl."

I nod, grabbing my jacket from where it lay on the bed.

"Oh, one more thing." Jane says, a light laugh bubbling from her lips. "Normally the type of work you and I do requires obscurity, but for this particular task I would like if you let the results be transparent."  
I stare, gaping at Jane. "You want..." I pause, not able to form the words on my tongue. "me to leave her body out?" Never had anyone ever asked that of me, or any other killer I'd known. "For everyone to see?"

"Yes." Jane says, nodding. "Let's consider it a fair warning to all others. Conceal your identity though, we wouldn't want the police to catch our best assassin. But let the girl's be shown."

I didn't move, completely confused by the stupidity of Jane's request.

She must have known I considered her to be a fool in this situation, because she offered me a smug smile. "Consider it an unsolved crime, Edward." she chuckles under her breath. "One that everyone who knows me knows who the culprit is, but no one will speak because they know me. And no one who knows me will know not of who the culprit is, though they will do much to speak because they're in the dark. It's a beautiful circle of inability."

"Perhaps." I mutter, swallowing hard. I repeat Jane's words in my head, _a beautiful circle of inability._ Truly, with Jane here, we were all stuck. For her, it was the beauty of power. She regulated every action, every thought, every motive. Chaos would ensue if she was killed, and perhaps that is why she has succeeded. We all knew that we needed her just as much as we feared her.

"I trust you have skills to make it an unsolved crime," Jane sighs, smiling. "Use them well. I wouldn't want you to go to jail at such a young age." Jane clicks her tongue, shaking her head. "Just twenty-one, such a young age."

I was almost creepy hearing Jane talk about me as if she was must older. Certainly she was more powerful than I, but I had the upper hand on age. As I always would.

"I await your good news, Mr. Cullen." Jane tells me, lifting her head to meet my stern gaze. I don't respond, instead I leave the room.

I walk quickly from the hotel, attempting to direct my thoughts from the odd behavior of Jane to the new job I had. It wasn't all like in the movies—go back to my secret house, load the picture onto a sophisticated computer and then use various programs to find the location of this girl within minutes. No, I only had the name and a picture and a computer with an untraceable address that I bought overpriced from a dealer in downtown Seattle. I would do it the old-fashioned way, just the way I liked to do this. Only now, anxiety was settling over me as I realized I had a deadline. A very close deadline. I had seven days to track this girl down and dispose of her, and let the entire world see my work without seeing that I had done it.

I didn't take my time getting to my house, I had much less time than what was expected. Once inside, I did what I always do—I grab my laptop and typed in the victim's name.

Not much came up, just some links that were associated with a small town called Forks. None of them contained the girl's first name, just her last name.

 _Is it a relative or just a coincidence?_ I thought. Swan is a relatively common name—or rather, not an entirely _unique_ name and it _is_ bound to have dozens of families named just that. Though, it made me wonder if Jane had selected me because of my close proximity to Forks.

I click on the first link and then the second and third. Everything was about a man named Charles Swan, who happened to be the police chief in Forks. I eventually gave up my search, deciding I would just go to Forks to figure it out. I close my laptop, grabbing my jacket from where I'd thrown it on the couch and left my apartment.

I hated Forks with passion. It was close enough to where my family, who had once been close, fell apart that I resented the place. I left my family in Port Angeles when I was eighteen and never turned back, only now I was somewhat turning back. I had only been to Port Angeles on one other occasion, when my little sister, Alice, graduated to high school. I waited at the back of the gym long enough for her to hug me, for me to tell her I was proud of her and to do well in high school before I escaped my parents' glares. I had another brother, Emmett, he was four years older than me and moved out while on good grounds with my parents. Last I knew, he lived in New York with his wife, Rosalie, and their son, Henry.

I turned on my radio as I drove, not really caring what was playing. I just needed something to distract myself. I only needed to stay in Forks long enough to figure out who Isabella Swan was and where she was. If she was there, my job would be completed within hours. That would please Jane.

The hours passed tortuously slowly and I was left with nothing to do but listen to my thoughts. It wasn't hard, honestly. I never felt guilty for the people I murdered, they deserved it. Every victim was part of some crime and their death was mercy on the world. Jane hardly ever killed anyone who wasn't important—her only victims were those who threatened her power and name. What had Isabella Swan, an innocent looking child, done that would cause Jane to unleash her wrath?

I was never my business what my victim's crime was, but I never could help but wonder. Occasionally, it would be part of the payment of my employer to tell me and ease my curiosity. I knew that this would not be the case for Jane; Jane Volturi was never merciful. It was just a few hours past lunch by the time I made it to Forks. There was no easy way to do this. It would be suspicious of me, much less stupid and reckless, to go bang on the door of Charles Swan and hold up a picture of a girl he may or may not be related to before I begin viciously interrogating him. Not to mention, he is a chief. If anyone walked up to him holding a picture, it was likely they would end up in a jail cell on multiple charges.

The less suspicious way to do it was to stop at a common place, act like a common person, and ask questions in a very common way. I remembered Forks well enough from my run-away attempts as a teenager to know that the diner on Main Street was the most common hang-out in town. I turned into the lot, parking my conspicuous car in a corner and entering the diner.

The counter is where I would be able to talk to people the most, so I settle down in a relatively middle seat, picking up a menu. The dinner was mostly filled with teenagers—it was a weekend and this diner was one of the few places they could hang out at. None of them resembled Isabella Swan. I suddenly wanted to laugh at myself. Why would someone who bothered Jane Volturi hang out in a small town diner with a group of loud, obnoxious teenagers? Surely Isabella Swan was smarter than that!

A young waitress comes up to me from the other side of the bar, a notepad and pen in hand. She greets me with a smile, "Hello there! Are you from out of town? I haven't seen you around."  
"Yeah, I'm from Oregon." I say, quickly scanning the menu that was taped to the bar. "What would you say is the best thing here?" people skills, it's part of being an assassin. I learned this with my first few jobs, I had to get the other person comfortable by seeming overly friendly before they would accidentally drop me information.

"Well, I'd say the apple pie. But everything else thinks that the cobbler is fantastic!" the young waitress, Heidi, said very enthusiastically.

"I'll get a slice of both, then." I tell her, smiling.

"Sure thing!" Heidi skips away to the kitchen, grabbing the pieces of pie.

While Heidi was away, I busied myself by attempting to listen in on the loud, conversation of the teenagers. It sounded like they were discussing a gang in the next town over. I knew them, down at the Reservation all the boys were part of 'the Pack'. It was stupid, just another way to over-dramatize the cliques that formed overtime. There was no mention of Isabella Swan.

Sighing, I turned back to the counter to wait for my food and Heidi. It took a few minutes, but Heidi did return with my pie.

"So, where are you from in Oregon?"

"Salem, I'm a big city person." I answer smoothly, a rehearsed line. The details of my wonderful fake life were all rehearsed. My name was Micheal Owen, I was twenty-four years old. I had a wonderful girlfriend, her name was Lindsey and we lived in Salem together. She was born in New York and moved to Oregon for college, I lived in Oregon my entire life. We met through some friends of ours and we had been dating since college. I worked in software and I enjoyed visiting small towns to see the different culture. Most of the story was stupid, but everyone liked to believe what they heard so I never had a problem. I'd rehearsed my story so many times that I honestly felt like Micheal Owen. Occasionally, I would change my name so that I could prevent being tracked down. Lindsey Haybrook, my girlfriend, would change names too, and sometimes she would be born in Texas or Michigan.

I'd learned relatively quickly that most people didn't care about the big picture, they wanted juicy details and a good story. So that's what I gave them, to please them and to get myself what I needed. There was always a chance the person wouldn't take and give me what I needed, but that was the beauty of being an assassin. You had to work for information, you had to dance around and ask people without raising suspicious, you had to do your research and always catch the details that gave away the victim. Most victims hid, which made my work fun. It was the adrenaline of hunting down a person. Kill or be killed, that was what was often said in organized crime. I chose to kill, which meant the exhilaration of everything that came with it.

To be hunted was to have the same adrenaline, but out of fear. You also always knew you would be caught. Assassins are good, as they should be. If one assassins fails, the next will gladly step up in place to prove their worth. Assassins may fail, but the victim _always_ is dealt with.  
"It's a wonder why you are in Forks!" Heidi says excitedly. "You know, the last time we had a visitor from out of state was ages ago. When I was in eighth grade though, the Chief's daughter moved here. But she's gone now."  
There we go, something worth my time. I take a bite of the pie, seeming nonchalant and only slightly interested in her being here.

"Small towns weren't her thing?"  
"Oh no! No, no, it wasn't that." Heidi waves her hands, dismissing what I said. "She's living in Seattle now, attending Seattle University. You know, she is one of the few that ever left here. Most of the teenagers just hang out here and go to community colleges. She was smart to leave."  
That didn't quite help me.

"Is this town like the ones in the movies? Is there some secret I should be worried about?"  
Heidi laughs loudly, attracting the attention of other customers. "Oh no, none of that here. We're just a boring ass town."

"Ah,"

"But, I mean, she is lucky. Most people don't leave small towns, especially not in this town. Chief got divorced cause his wife didn't like it here, but he stayed. Renee moved to Arizona, she took Bella with her—but Bella came back here."

"Bella?" Disappointment coursed through me as I realized I hadn't figured out the major piece of this puzzle. If I had, it would've been record time. The fastest I'd ever found my victim was twenty-eight hours after I'd received all the information. If this was the girl and she was in Seattle, it would take me less than twenty-hours to get to her. Forcing myself to not seem disappointed for the sake of the girl before me, I continued on with a thought as if it was the only one of his mind. "What an interesting name."

"Yup, not much of those around here. She was an attention hog, honestly. All the boys were after her, but she kept rejecting them. It's a pity, really. She had so much potential here. Squeaky clean record, thanks to her being the Chief's daughter and all. But all the boys were after her, _even_ through she was the Chief's daughter so there really was something about her. None of the other girls could figure it out, she never hung out with anyone."  
I almost roll my eyes at the obvious jealousy covering this girl, Heidi. Clearly she didn't like Bella, and clearly Bella didn't appear to my victim. If she was involved in organized crime, boys wouldn't be chasing her and girls wouldn't be jealous. I finished my pie, smiling at Heidi.

There was no reason for me to be here anymore. "I'm not sure I can decide which one is better, they're both fantastical."

Heidi giggles. "I'm glad you enjoyed them." she picks up my plate.

"How much will it be?" I ask her, pulling my wallet out of my pocket.

She waves her hand, shaking her hand. "Oh, don't worry about it! It's on the house."  
I smile, part of the act again. Honestly, this girl was annoying me a bit. "Thank you, you're very kind." I pull out a ten dollar bill, handing it to her. "A tip," I explain. "you have wonderful service here."  
Heidi looks shocked, and she fails miserably as she attempts to cover it up. "Thank you." she stampers, taking the money.

I get off the bar stool, waving a goodbye as I stride out of the diner. It was pouring outside, naturally. This was Washington, after all. Outside, a group of guys—high schoolers, at most college students—were huddled together, talking and goofing off. I ignored them for the most part, pushing past to get to my car.

Just to be sure, I listened to what they were shrieking wildly about as I passed.

Nothing. I continued to my car at a faster pace to get out of the drenching rain. There was nothing here. Simply a girl and a father whose names were in common with the girl I was hunting. I get into my car, driving twenty-miles above the speed limit to rid myself of the small-town stench. I had gotten nothing from this trip, several hours wasted and time spent eating two disgusting pieces of pie.

I drive home, mostly in a fit of anger. Normally, I didn't get angry at a dead end. It was part of the job. But this job was different. This was _the job_. No other job would be this exhilaration or dangerous. That's what I wanted, I wanted adrenaline from the moment it started to the moment it ended. I wanted it to be the movie-type assassination job. Where the only dead end I hit was solved only moments later, that's what I craved. But knowing that this fantasy was just that—a fantasy—put me in an even deeper rage than before.

I gripped the steering wheel too tightly and pushed the car faster, ignoring the speed limits and the threat of small-town cops. I weave in and out of the little traffic on the road, making my way back to Seattle three times as fast as when I left.

When I make it out of Forks' limits, I turn on my radio and slow my speed just a bit. My parents never taught me to drive, I left before they could. But if they saw me now—speeding, reckless driving, enraged—they would be just as disappointed as they were before. As they always have been. I push the thought out of my head, the thought of my parents and my siblings. I didn't need to involve them in anything, much less my life. I don't intend to make things right with my family, I don't regret anything.

Nothing, except my kid sister, Alice. She suffers the most. Alice and I were always close growing up, but when I split and slipped off the rails in ninth grade, I lost Alice.

She always hoped the old Edward was still somewhat present, so she made it her mission to give me the time and patience no one else gave me. She dealt with me, she forgave me, she always let me rely on her even when I never returned the favors. The fact that she was always there, no complaining or doubt in her subtle confidence intimidated me.

I was fourteen when that old Edward disappeared. Drugs, adrenaline, and killing a boy was what made me who I was. Alice never believe that it was permanent, she thought it was a facade, a non-reality. She was ignorant, optimistic, naive, and very, very gullible, but I regretted leaving her.

Suddenly, in a snap decision, I turned my car completely around. I wasn't going to Seattle today. No, I was going back to Port Angeles.

I did my best to ignore the anger that bit through my veins as I sped to my old house. I worked through mountains of curses before I logically stated that Isabella Swan should be an easy target. No sane, intelligent person would ever piss of Jane Volturi. Isabella was insane, unintelligent, and quite frankly, a _girl_! She had a tiny figure, one that would be no help in combat. Her doe eyes were innocent enough, so either she wasn't in the crime organization or she just sucked at being a criminal. I wasn't a girl-hating kind of man, in fact most of my friends were girls. Women, who had been raised in boarder-line evil ways so that they became fierce, but this Isabella was not fierce. Jane Volturi was fierce. Isabella Swan was helpless. She was pathetic.

I tossed the picture of Isabella from my jacket pocket onto the seat besides me; I was done with her for now.

I turned the music louder, pushing my car to Port Angeles.

I made it there in ninety minutes.

I let my car sit outside the house for a few minutes, taking it all in. Mom obviously hadn't lost her touch for gardening, there was planted flowers spread all around the front yard and potted plants lining the front stairs. The porch held larger pots with bushes and trees that weren't big enough to put into the ground yet.

The house looked normal, it looked like it did when I lived in it. It was painted white with darker trimming, the porch was perfectly clean and in order. The couch swing on the far right was new, but that was the only difference.

With a small sigh, I let myself out into the pouring rain, jogging to the front door where I'd be at the mercy of the extended roof.

I rang the doorbell hoping that Alice would be the one to answer it. Maybe I would get off without having to see my parent's glaring eyes today. But today had already proven that it wasn't my lucky day.

Of all the people who could have opened the door, it was my father. The one I wanted to see least. I bit back a sigh when he crossed his arms tightly over his chest, a frown on his face.

"What do you want?" his tone was familiar to me, full of anger and disappointment.

"Alice." I respond. "I just need to talk to her."  
"You're not going anywhere near her." I almost flinch at the tone he used.

"She's my sister," I insist, stepping into the house. Dad steps in front of me, blocking my entry into the house, his expression a stone of hatred.

"Get out." He hisses.

"Dad," despite not seeing Alice in years, I immediately recognized her soft, angelic voice. "who is that?"  
"I'll be waiting in the car for her." I tell my father, turning and leaving. I could feel his glare on my back, but I was more relieved to not have to look at it. I was a coward for that.

Once in the car, I could only see the blurred images of my father and sister through the rain. Even then, it was clear that they were arguing and even more clear that Alice was winning.

My parents never could say no to their little girl, even I couldn't. We all loved her too much. It only took a minute for her to run and grab her coat before she was running through the rain to my car. I started the car, turning on the heater for Ali when she got in.

"You're back." were her first words, her big eyes staring at me questioningly.

I don't respond, I stare straight ahead.

"What's wrong, Edward? You look worried."

"Just work." I mutter, "How are you?"

"I'm fine." her voice was soft, I almost couldn't hear her voice surrounded by the pattering rain and the breathing of the car heater.

"Okay."

We are silent for a few moments, both statues until Alice bends down and pickes up the picture of Isabella Swan that had slipped to the floor in front of the passenger seat. "Who is this?"  
"No one."

"She's pretty." Alice tells me.

"So are you." I take the picture from her, stuffing it into the compartment of my door. "You don't need to worry about that girl."

"Did she do something bad?"

"I don't know."  
"When did you meet her?"  
"Haven't yet." I respond quietly.

Alice sighs, leaning back against her seat. She looked so much older than before when she was 14. She is sixteen now, and her face had clearly matured. Her crow black hair was chopped short to her chin, in layers and her face was rounder. She was staring at me now, her eyes just as bright green as before. Everyone always told our parents that the only proof we were siblings were our eyes, both bright green. I inherited all my looks from Esme's side of the family and Alice was just the oddball. Carlisle claimed she got her black hair from his grandmother, but we could never be sure.

"Mom and Dad are worried."

"They'll get over it." I snap, turning away from Alice. "I don't want to talk about them."

"Okay," Alice says, nodding. "let's talk about you. What's going on?"

"I fucked up." I admit. It was only now that I realized this, that I truly had fucked up. "I'm in a bad place, no way out."

"Are you dealing?" Alice asks softly. She wasn't judging me, she wasn't even angry. Her voice was just as soft as always, caring and kind. That's what Alice was made out of. She never judged me or hated me, even when I left her.

"Yeah, let's put it that way." I chuckle humorlessly. I'm dealing out death.

"It's a cycle, you always say it's the last time but it never is." Alice tells me, biting her lip. She was always the wiser one of the two of us.

"I know."  
"Good." She only needed to know that I knew the risks, she was smart in a way that no one else was. She knew me to the point that she knew I would only change my mind if I wanted to. "I don't want to lose you again, Edward. I can't handle this," she touches my arm softly. "where you come and go and we see each other sometimes. But I won't be able to handle it if you're dead because that's coming, I know it is."

"I'm not going to die." I whisper, dread evident in my voice. No, I wouldn't die. Because I would kill others to protect my own life. I would kill poor Isabella Swan with her innocent eyes just like I've killed so many before her.

"I'm not eleven anymore." Alice tells me, turning completely in her seat to face me. "You got lucky once, and you are still getting off on that luck. But you won't always be that lucky. You're going to die and I need to know you before you get yourself killed."

"No, you don't need to, Alice. Then you'll have to mourn me when I die."  
"I'm mourning you now, Edward." her voice was regretful. "You are dying, in a metaphorical sense. When you really die, I'll mourn you because I never knew you. My own brother I never knew."

"You know Emmett."

"Emmett doesn't come home that much." Alice sighs. "You know how Rosalie never really liked Dad."  
"Yeah, I know."

"Get out of it, please. Whatever you are doing, get out of it. For me." Alice begs. "Let me get to know you, let me wake up every day and know that you are safe."

"Don't beg." I tell her suddenly, before I even knew what I was saying. I regretted the words quickly. It was something always said with the people I hung out with—other assassins, criminals, people I work for. Begging was a sign of weakness, of emotion. We didn't feel emotion, we felt money, we felt power. We only craved power.

"I will beg." Alice's voice was firm now. I knew how she got that angry look when she used that tone. "You are my brother, Edward Cullen. You better hope to hell that I'll beg for you, that I'll fight for you! Even if it's you I'm fighting with."

"I'm sorry." I mutter. Alice sighs, leaning back against the door. All evidence of her anger disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Let's go to the beach."  
"It's pouring." I tell her, bewildered by her sudden order.

"When has rain stopped us from doing anything? Let's go, drive." Alice tells me, she puts her seat belt on.

I bite back a sigh, putting the car into drive. The beach was our favorite place, Alice and I would always go after school no matter what the weather was like. Today, we were apparently going when it was pouring.

We drive in silence, Alice probably thinking hard about what's bothering me. My mind was still on Isabella Swan, her doe eyes and the crime she committed.

It took me just a few minutes to get to the beach, and by the time I got there Alice looked more than eager to get out of the car.

She jumped out before I even turned the car off, pulling the hood of her jacket over her short hair. "Come on, let's go!"

I get out quietly, stuffing the keys into my pockets and following after my sister. She drags me to the edge of the beach, where the sand and water meet.

"Aren't you wet enough?" I question, as Alice begins pulling her boots and socks off. She sticks her tongue out.

"It's different with the ocean. It's salty, it's powerful." She steps in the water, a shiver slipping down her spin at the iciness of the waves.

"Power is overrated."

"The power you know is corrupt, Edward." Alice says. "This power, this is natural. This is beautiful."

"Besides that, you'll freeze."

"Maybe. But at least I can feel something." Alice tells me, her face somber. "It's worth dying if you can't feel emotion. I know you don't want to talk about it, Edward, but we need to. Mom and Dad are really suffering, as much as they won't admit it. You're their son and they are watching you destroy yourself."

"I haven't destroyed myself." I tell Alice, honestly. Or had I?

"They don't know that. I don't know that." Alice tells me, brushing some of her hair away from her face. "We don't even know where you live."

"Seattle. I have a nice apartment."

"I'm not allowed to visit you. I can only see you whenever you feel like dropping by."

She didn't say it, but she meant whenever _I_ got up the nerve to face my parents. Guilt courses through me. This wasn't suppose to happen. She wasn't supposed to make me feel guilty. Alice was the understanding one in my family, the kind forgiver until fault. She was the one who let me get away with anything. She literally let me get away with murder.

"I can't take you there now." I tell her quietly. "Some other time."

"In two years when you come back from my graduation again?" Alice asks me, biting her lip.

"No, before that."  
Alice nods. "We'll talk about it then, I don't want to talk about it now."

I walk a few strides over, settling down on a mossy rock. Alice follows me, still walking in the shallow depths of the water. "Maybe you can turn your feet blue then also."  
Alice laughs. "It feels good. Try it."

I shake my head. "I'm not that insane yet."  
"Yet." Alice giggles. "But you will be. You'll be so insane you won't know what to do with yourself, and then you'll _dive_ into frozen water." her voice had an intense amount of confidence that I was envious for a moment, before I realized Alice was talking nonsense. She talked nonsense often, and it was often that you'd find her nonsense being right. I was very close to diving into the cold water.

"Tell me about your life. How is school going?"

Alice grins. "It's great! Tenth grade is really easy, I'm taking two eleventh grade classes and those are harder. I'm tutoring kids from fourth grade in reading at a school a little while from here. They're adorable, really."

"That's really good."

"I'm dating Jasper Hale, do you remember him? He is Rosalie's cousin."

"Yeah, I remember him." Jasper had an older brother, Matt, that was part of my group of friends briefly in ninth grade. I remembered Jasper as a good kid, and I doubted he was anything otherwise today.

"You know his parents died." Alice tells me. "In a car accident, three years ago."

I don't say anything, I just stare at the dark ocean. I didn't want to think about death.

"He's doing well with it, both of them are."

"That's good." the rain was slowing now, though it made no difference since Alice and I were dripping wet anyway. She steps out of the water, pulling her socks on over her wet feet.

"You're distracted." she tells me, smiling. "That's good. You're working through things."  
"Or maybe I'm just trying not to let you get to me."

Alice smiles wider. "Then you're in denial because you know what I'm saying is right."

"Let's just go." I tell her, getting off the rock.

"You know, Mom and Dad probably aren't home now. Mom had a meeting with her book publisher today and Dad was going to go with her, something about getting dinner afterwards. They probably left by now." Alice tells me as we walk back to the car. "We can go home, change and maybe watch a movie or something."

"I don't know." I tell her. That house wasn't really my home anymore, and I didn't even want to see what they'd done to my room. Five years was long enough for them to change it and throw all my things away.

"Come on, it will be lots of fun. We haven't watched a movie together in years." Alice begs. "Please."

"Don't you have homework?"

"Yes, and I'll do it. Tomorrow."  
"Tomorrow you have school, when you have to turn it all in."  
"Relax Edward, two hours won't destroy my grades."  
"Maybe not." I admit, still reluctant to go back to my house.

"They won't be there, I promise. We'll just stay in the basement, we don't have to even go upstairs. One tiny, short movie?"

"Fine." I chuckle, shaking my head. "Let's go."

Alice grins, jumping into the car. I blast the heat once we got in, remembering that moments ago both of us were shivering in the rain. The drive back home was longer, mostly as I struggled to not panic over stepping into their house for the first time in five years. Once we got there, Alice squeezed me hand, quietly reassuring me that I'd be fine.

The house was dark when we enter, though that's how I always remembered it. I'd sneak into the house late at night more times than I'd come home during the day, one of the many reasons I left. I couldn't handle being reprimanded every morning by my parents because of my habits. The family room was completely re-arranged, there were new sofas and a bigger TV. A few picture frames had changed, I noted, as Alice led me through the house.

"We can get some new clothes, grab some snacks, and go downstairs." Alice tells me, already hopping up the first few stairs. I follow after her, realizing that all the pictures that remind up were of Alice. Alice said nothing about the missing pictures of me, and I tried not to let it get to me.

 _I'd done this to myself_ , I think, _now I have to face the consequences_.

"I'm sure you remember where you room is." Alice smirks as we reach the top of the steps. I remembered, but I didn't even think that my room was still there.

"It's still there?"

Alice offers me a small smile. "We still hope you'll come back."  
Alice slips into her room, which had been the office when I lived in this house, and I ventured farther down the hall to where my room had been before. I slowly opened the door, almost scared to look inside.

My furniture was where it was supposed to be. My bed in the center, my dresser on the far right wall, and my desk against the back wall. Everything was cleaned nicely, there was no dirty laundry on the floor—Mom had probably cleaned it up before she realized I was never coming back.

I swallow hard, going straight to my dresser and grabbing a stack of clothes quickly. I look only at the floor as I change, refusing to look at the neatly made bed, the clean stacks of notebooks, papers, and textbooks on my desk, and the organized novels on my side table. When I got downstairs, I found Alice already rummaging through the cabinets in under the TV.

"I don't know what you're into..." She frowns,

"I'll watch whatever you want."

Alice smiles, grabbing a movie quickly and dashing into the kitchen and returning moments later with bags of pre-made popcorn, chips, and cookies. Two cans of soda was tucked under her arm, along with the movie.

We walked together downstairs after I'd taken my share of the snacks. Alice set the movie up quickly after she realized that I didn't know how to work the new TV they purchased.

"You might enjoy this one." Alice tells me, settling down besides me.

The movie was something I might have enjoyed—several years ago. Now, my thoughts were clouded by Isabella and Jane. Every now and then, I would come back to reality when Alice chuckled besides me at the jokes in the movie, and I would follow her example and give a quiet laugh.

The movie took its time ending, and when the screen finally turned black Alice stood up. I sat up, realizing how stiff my back was from not moving for two hours.

"You were very quiet." Alice tells me, popping the CD back into its case.

"I have a lot on my mind. I'm sorry."  
"Don't be." Alice smiles, tossing the case onto the couch. She picks up her empty can of soda and my unopened can, "I'll just take these upstairs and then we can talk or something."  
"I think I should go, actually." I mutter, staring at the floor. The hours were ticking by and I need to make some progress on my assignment.

"No." Alice whispers, her face paling. "Please, Edward, don't go yet!"

"Ali, I've already been here for hours."  
"Compared to the number of years you were gone."

"I'm sorry, I've got work." I stand, helping Alice pick up the snacks.  
"They don't give you much time off."

"No, they don't." I agree. "I'm looking into a new job." the words slip out of my mouth before I even realize what I've said.

Alice's eyes perk up a bit. "That's great! Maybe you can look into this area."  
"Maybe." I mutter. We both knew it was very unlikely.

Alice and I walk upstairs, our arms full of the snacks we hardly touched. I drop them on the counter in the kitchen, like she does, and we both exit the kitchen with the promise of putting them away later.

"I wish you would stay longer." Alice tells me, hugging my arm. "It's been so long."  
"I'll come pick you up next Sunday." I tell Alice, wrapping my arm around her tiny frame. "You can spend a few days at my house and then I'll drive you back."

"Really?" Alice gasps.

"Yup." By next Sunday, I'll either be dead because of Jane or I'll be alive with a day off of work. I won't get another assignment until Alice leaves. It's enough for both of us—Alice gets a promise of seeing me again (even if I may not be alive by then), and I get some more motivation to stay alive.

"It's going to be so much fun!" Alice jumps up, grinning.

"Mhmm."

"Oh!" Alice's smile falters a bit, "School."  
"A couple of days missed won't kill you." I joke, ruffling her hair. "I really have to go now, but I'll see you soon."

"Alright." Alice smiles, she still hugs my arm as we walk to the front door. It was pouring outside, harder than before. "Maybe you should wait until the rain gets better."

"Nah, I'll be fine." I tell her. "Come here." I grab Alice in a tight hug, kissing her forehead. "I love you."

"I love you too, Edward. Stay safe, alright?"

I smile, nodding. "And you stay out of trouble. Let Mom and Dad get one good kid."

"You're amazing, you just got a little sidetracked." Alice murmurs.

"I'll see you in a bit." I squeeze Alice one more time before letting her go and stepping out of the house.

"Bye Edward, I'll see you next Sunday." Alice tells me.

Just as I was about to walk to my car, I swing around to face Alice. "Have you heard of a girl named Isabella Swan?"

"What?" Alice questions, raising an eyebrow at me in confusion.

"It's a very long story, but someone at work knows her and was looking for her. They're friends, but she hasn't been able to reach her lately. She told me that Isabella lives somewhere around here, or maybe it was closer to Forks. I can't remember." I babbled, trying to make an excuse for my sudden question.

Alice thinks for a moment. "I've heard the name before. I think someone in La Push knows her, one of the guys from that gang. I go there often with school, the beaches are gorgeous."

"Do you know his name, by any chance?"

"I can't remember if it was Jack or Jake. . ." Alice trails off, deep in thought. "But she is a young girl, younger than you. I can't imagine how someone from your work would know her."

"I don't know. I just told her I would look for Isabella."

"Who is her, exactly?" Alice questions.

"Her name is Jane." I was giving too much information, though I didn't exactly see how it would be any threat.

"Maybe you can ask Chief Swan."

"Who?" Could she possibly mean the chief of police in Forks? The person I had suspected first and very quickly dismissed?

"Charles Swan, he is the chief in Forks. He is Isabella's dad, I think. If we are talking about the same person, at least. His daughter goes by Bella. Dad has been down to Forks once or twice a couple of years ago to help with some cases that needed a medical consultant, I went with him once. Chief Swan talked about her a lot."  
"Did you ever see her yourself?" I question.

"Nope." Alice shrugs. "Anyway, you can probably tell your friend Jane about that. I'm sure it'll help her."

"Yeah, it will help. Thanks Ali."  
"No problem." she smiles, leaning against the doorway. "Drive safe, okay?"

I nod, walking off the porch and rushing to my car.

This was perfect. I knew who Isabella was and now I just needed to find her. From my conversation earlier today with Heidi, I was sure that Isabella would be Seattle at the university. But just to make sure, I drove straight back to Forks.

It was ridiculous what I was doing. I'd been driving for hours today and I used up more gas than I could even wrap my mind around, but I didn't care. I drove past the old diner that was now closed and quickly found the police station.

It was small with only a handful of squad cars parked in the front. I parked my own car, stepping out and heading into the building. I wasn't exactly sure what my plan was. How would I approach the Chief of police and question him about his daughter. It was stupid, at best. But I had no other plan and it seemed that talking to him, or even seeing him would do me some good. Maybe he had a picture of her in his office, or I walked in on him speaking about her to someone else. Or, the best situation of them all, Isabella Swan was there in person visiting her father to drop off dinner or something.

It was cold and damp inside. The offices were small and dingy and very few in number. There was an officer at the front desk, he looked up when I walked in. Isabella was not in the lobby, neither was the chief.

"Good evening," I greet. He nods his head in response.

"What can I do for ya?" he questions,

"I was wondering if I could talk to Chief Swan."

"What about?"

"It's rather. . . Personal." I finish lamely.

"Chief isn't in today." the deputy responds after a moment. He looks back down at his desk, dismissing me. I bite back the urge to threaten the deputy, knowing that would get me no where but jail and leave the office.

I sat in my car for a moment, trying to decide what to do. There really wasn't anything I could do. I would be crossing too many boarders if I went to his house to investigate. Of course that did make the most sense in this situation.

I was going off what other people said, I needed to do my own investigated. I needed to know for sure before I chased more leads that may be dead-ends. I needed to trust myself before others. If Charles Swan wasn't here then it was likely he was at home. But there was multiple other places he could be.

I sat in my car, watching the deputy inside. Maybe if he got up and went into the back I could get a good look around the station, maybe find some information about where Charles Swan lived or even proof that Isabella was connected here.

It took the deputy a long time to leave, and while he did that I spent time on my phone reading through random articles online. But eventually, the deputy did get up. I exited my car quickly, opening the door just enough for me to squeeze in before slowly closing it, and rushed behind the desk.

There was random sticky notes, crumbs, and papers around the desk. But the desktop was still logged on—though nothing on the screen helped me.

The last thing I was going to do was go through random crap in a police station that I knew was covered in security cameras. Instead, I left the desk and ventured down the hall opposite to the one the deputy went through. The hall was lined with empty offices. There was no sign of the Chief's office anywhere near.

Still, I continued to walk until the end of the hall. The closest camera wasn't pointing in my direction, quite odd. Though it did make a bit of sense; a small-town police department couldn't have all the resources, they hardly even had enough money to pay their deputies. I slipped quietly into the closest closet, finding—thankfully—that it happened to be a filing closet.

Creating as little noise as possible, I slipped open the first drawer of the cabinet. I wasn't sure what these files were, but the list was relatively small. Past cases solved, unsolved cases, citizens who had a record, or just a combination of all. There weren't enough crimes committed in Forks for all the files to be unsolved cases. I lightly fingered through them, doing my best to try to spy the name _Swan_ on any file.

While luck was on my side about finding a filing closet, I wasn't having any looking for an exact file. I journeyed on to the next drawer, pausing often to listen for anyone who may be coming my way. When I was sure there was no one in the hall, I continued to look. It was after I'd gone through four drawers until I found a file.

I could have jumped with happiness. It was her name.

 _Isabella Marie Swan, September 13, 1987_

This was beyond perfect. I opened the file, even more giddy when a picture ID fell out portraying the exact face Jane's picture showed. I quickly folded the folder up, tucking it under my jacket and closing the drawer of the cabinet. Quietly, I opened the door of the closet, slipping out into the hall.

The deputy was back at his desk, I didn't try to hide myself knowing that this was the only way out. Instead, I walked loudly and in the middle of the hall. The deputy turned quickly, his eyes narrowing when he saw me.

"What were you doing back there?" He demands in a loud voice.

I hold my hands up, stopping to show him no offense. "I was just looking for the restroom. You weren't at the desk and so I just started looking."

"It's that way." he stabbed a finger in the opposite direction of where I was.

"Oh, thank you." I said, nodding my head at him. To keep up the ruse, I walked over to where he pointed. Locking the door behind me, I decided to get started on Isabella's file while I pretended to use the restroom.

Her file was thin, which was expected of the chief's daughter. If anything, her file at another station not connected to this one would be several times as large and filled with all of her parole rules. She seemed like the type of criminal that would get caught multiple times.

Besides her picture, there was a transcript—which, surprisingly, contained a 3.94 GPA, among many other things. She, according to this file, had a clean record, but that didn't mean she wasn't a criminal. So many criminals, like me, had clean records. Or, at least offenses that didn't warrant jail or a parole.

Under all the possibly useless information was her address in Seattle, right next to Seattle University. I placed the folder back under my jacket, leaving the restroom. I waved to the deputy as I exited the station, running through the rain back to my car.

It was late, by the time I would get to Seattle it would be 1:00 A.M., at the earliest. I'd spent too much time with Alice today, but I hardly regretted it. Lurking around campus at the early hours of the morning would get nothing for me except suspicion. I'd have to put it off until I could properly blend in with the student body at the university.

It would be possible to get Isabella's information—her course schedule and possibly her work schedule if she did work—and somehow watch her throughout the day. It would be beneficial to understand who she was before I killed her, just in case there was someone I needed to be worried about who was also involved in the crimes she had committed. Mainly, staking her social and crime life out before disposing of her would be safe for me in terms of my life and avoiding jail.

Content with my discoveries of today, I took my time driving home. Tomorrow I would pick this up from where I left it.


	3. October 16

Chapter 2: Monday, October 16th

I woke up early the next morning, quickly showering and making myself a small breakfast of coffee and eggs. Once I retrieved the picture of Isabella Swan and her police file from a small lock-box in my closet, I sat down to eat and re-read all the information I devoured the night before.

She seemed simple enough, but the curiosity was eating away at me. What had she done to gain Jane's wrath?

I quickly finished my food, throwing my dishes in the sink while mentally reminding myself that I would have to wash them tonight. I returned the folder and picture to the lockbox: it was never safe bringing those possessions outside. Once I was sure that everything dangerous was placed in a suitable location, I grabbed my jacket and left the house.

Seattle University was considerably close to where I lived, though the traffic made the trip twice as long. None of this took away from my good mood, however. I had accomplished more than I ever hoped to in one day, and I owed it to that waitress from the diner and to Alice. Alice I shouldn't have ever involved, but one question wouldn't harm her. Jane would never know, though the same couldn't be said about the other girl.

Once at the university, I parked my car and allowed myself to take my time walking to campus. I had been here a few times—once to consider the college as somewhere that I could continue my education and other times to hang out with some of my criminal friends who had connections to drugs on campus. It was no trouble for me to find the office and I quickly did. When I entered, the first thing I did was check for security cameras. There was none—perfect. However, an old receptionist sat at the desk, typing away on her desktop. She looked up quickly when she heard the door slam behind me.

"Oh, hello! Can I help you?"

I smile, walking towards her. "Good morning." I pulled my wallet out, producing a fake Seattle Police Deputy ID, showing it to her briefly. "I am with the Seattle Police Department and I just needed to look at some information about a student that attends this university."  
"Oh. Is there a problem or something with this student?"  
"It's confident, I apologize." I tell her, attempting sympathy. Maybe it was the years of training or just natural talent, but I had always been able to lie my way through situations.

"Ah, sorry. Just give me the name and I'll search it up for you."  
"Actually, I would prefer to do that myself, if you don't mind. Again, confidentiality." I apologize, once against being sympathetic.

The women frowns, her face wrinkling and aging her more. Eventually, she smiles at me again. "Let me just make a quick phone call." she picks up the phone, dialing in a quick number. "Oh, hello Mr. Greene! I encountered a bit of an obstacle just now. A young man from the Seattle Police Department needs access to information about a student—oh, yes. Yes, sir." she nods her head a few times as she speaks, tapping on the desk with her nails. "Of course, sir. I'll be sure to do that."  
She places the phone back onto the receiver, smiling up at me. "I spoke with someone just now. I've been told you have our full cooperation. It's happened before where one of our students were investigated and it all was better for the rest of the student body. I'm sure you can understand that giving out classified information like this can be considered illegal."

"Yes."

"If it is under strict orders from your boss, I'm sure it'll be an exception." the receptionist stood, walking to a door in the back of the office. She unlocks it with a string of keys she held around her neck, opening it wide for me. "All the filing cabinets are in here, it goes by last name—I'm sure you know. If that's all you need, you can go on in. Close the door, or leave it open, whatever you wish."

"Thank you. It'll only take a moment." I promise her, entering the large room. I quickly was able to find the cabinet that held the "S" names and searched through them for many moments before I found young Isabella Swan.

I pulled her file out, opening it against the rest of the files. Her class schedule was among the many papers included in the file, and once I found it, I snapped a quick picture. It appeared that she had a work study that was paying a portion of her tuition in the English department as a tutor. I took a picture of her work schedule as well, but none of the other information seemed to be important. I already had her address, a phone number wasn't needed, and I had no use for her outstanding college application. It wouldn't matter in just a few days anyway, when her body would be discovered and this exact file would be thrown out.

I stuffed the file back into the spot it belonged to, exiting the room. I thanked the receptionist for her cooperation again and promised she would be hearing from my boss if any of their services were further required, a tip I'd gotten from a friend to prevent someone from fact checking after they got suspicious of a lack of activity after I disappeared—or even too much activity.

Once outside the office, I studied Isabella's schedule. Today she had _Advanced Calculus_ at 9:30, _The_ _History of Science_ at 11:15, and _Women in Classical Literature_ at 12:50.

All I had to do now was find the classroom, sit in the back, and study Isabella until I deemed the situation perfect for murder. Killing her today was hardly an option, though I did come equipped with my small gun. There was so many questions I still needed answer: Did she have a roommate? Are any of her friends in the organized crime industry? Would any of her friends attempt to avenge her death? Did she know Jane wanted her head?

The questions swirled through my head as I walked to the building I suspected held Isabella's first class. It took a few minutes to find the classroom once inside the building, and I was relieved to find that the classroom was able to hold at least a hundred students. My presence would not be noticed. I slipped into the back of the room, ensuring that I had a good view of the entire room before sitting down. Now, I watched the door.

There was twenty minutes before the class started, and very slowly students trickled in. By ten minutes, there were only about twenty-five students in the classroom. Within a few more minutes, the students started piling in in twos and threes at a time.

Isabella was not among them.

I waited until several minutes after class had started, but still she had not showed. I wasn't about to sit through an hour long class about math formulas, so I gathered myself up and slipped out of the lecture hall.

There were chairs at the end of the hall overlooking the stairs and the elevator. If Isabella happened to be running late, I would see her going into the hall.

I took a seat in one of the chairs, busying myself with reading a magazine that was on the table. It wasn't like I could concentrate much on the shallow articles, but it was a good ruse.

I waited for ten minutes, then twenty, than forty. Then, students began pouring out of the classroom in a clumped up mass, all chattering loudly and creating chaos on the stairs and elevator.

Being an assassin for so long taught me to be patient, and so I was able to put the magazine down and calmly filter through the students and exit the building.

Isabella didn't show up for her first class, but she had two other classes and work. If neither of those work, then I would visit her again tomorrow and the day after until I properly understood who this girl was and if she was safe to dispose of.

Isabella's next class started in a half hour, so I journeyed around campus until I found the building and room. It was another lecture hall, which was expected at a university this size. I took a seat in the back, allowing myself a good view of the entire room. There was fifteen minutes until the class started so there were a good amount of students already seated. None of them resembled Isabella.

I sat, watching the door as more students trickled in. Once again, none of the students possessed Isabella's features and the class started not caring that one of their students was missing. I was beginning to suspect that Isabella's schedule was wrong, or that she was out for the entire day. Both would be problematic to my mission, considering it would be wasting an entire day for me.

The professor was talking passionately about this topic, I wasn't even sure what topic, and it was beginning to bore me. Luckily, however, he was stopped by the loud sound of the door opening.

I turned, crossing my fingers that it was Isabella.

I worked to stop the smile that wanted to emerge on my face. There she was: brown hair, pale skin, and doe eyes just like her picture. Only now, her face had turned bright red from embarrassment. She, attempting to not stare back at all the students who had their gaze turned on her, walked down the stairs that parted the two sides of the hall and straight to the professor. She quickly handed him a blue slip—probably an official note excusing her tardiness—and then ran back up the stairs, nearly tripping twice, to the row I was sitting in. She collapsed into the plastic chair three chairs from mine.

The professor had returned to his lecture and all the students turned back to him, leaving Isabella's late entrance forgotten. Isabella wasted no time. She already had her notebook and pen out, scrawling down notes as quickly as she could, occasionally looking up at the professor while he pointed to random diagrams and pictures on the screen.

She was determined and quite incessant about her notes. Whenever the professor paused, she would quickly reread everything to ensure she had written all of it down. It was mesmerizing to watch her. Her skin was extremely pale, though that was expected in Forks, and yet there was hardly any redness to her skin. Her eyes were soft, very warm, and big—just like her picture. She had thicker her than I imagined, it was a nice mahogany brown. When she stood, she was short—maybe 5'4 at most—and she was relatively thin.

She was beautiful, without a doubt.

It wasn't her beauty that mesmerized me, however. It was how determined she was, how anxious she got when the professor would talk to fast and she couldn't keep up, or how bored she became when he talked to slow. She wasn't very fidgety, she stayed still and hardly looked anywhere but the professor and her notebook. When the professor did talk to fast, she would get this panicked look on her face, mixed with determination, and she had a little indentation between her eyebrows when she was really focused.

She was unobservant, as well. Here I was, staring at her and she didn't notice. She wasn't even slightly disturbed of how close danger was to her, humans did have a sixth sense about that thing. Or at least they had a sense of when someone is looking at them.

She was so focused on only one task, she wasn't at all worried about her environment. How could she be a criminal? How could she—this unobservant, stupid, yet intelligent by the sight of it, girl—be a criminal on Jane's kill list? It wasn't possible. It wasn't even possible that this _child_ could even get into our ranks, even the lowest possible one. She was such bad material to make a criminal of.

Adding in her father's career, no criminal would ever talk to her, much less commit crimes besides her. Jane shouldn't care about a girl like this, but she does. Isabella possesses the power to get into Jane's head and give her fear, or revenge, or something. I just couldn't figure out what it was, what made Isabella so important that she needed to die?

I didn't have much time to ponder on that, because all the students were suddenly up and running out the door. Isabella calmly collected her things, putting them back into her backpack and throwing her backpack over her shoulder. She almost seemed afraid to enter the stream of students leaving the room, as if they would hurt her upon contact. But she managed, after a few moments to get through the crowd. I followed her, keeping my distance but ensuring I wouldn't lose her.

She didn't talk to anyone when she left, and I briefly wondered why but I was too focused on the girl to continue the thought. I realized quickly enough when she was rushing to the building next door. She had another class.

I followed her, again, keeping my distance. She never realized I was following her, or even bothered to check to see if someone was following her. The next lecture hall was more filled than the first. Isabella took, like last time, a seat in the far back. I sat on the opposite end of the hall in perfect view of Isabella and not in a suspicious spot. She went through the routine in her last class, pulling out her notebook and pen, and this time a textbook with the other two objects.

She busied herself by opening the textbook and scanning through the pages quickly. Perhaps she hadn't done her reading the night before, or she was reviewing the reading. If she had done the homework, another strike that she was a criminal. Criminals are supposed to be very intelligent, cunning, and have good memories. We couldn't always carry about cheat sheets everywhere we went, that could potentially end up in a disaster.

This class was even worse than the last class. It was more of a discussion than lecturing and it moved very slowly as the professor attempted to pull answers out of the students. Isabella never offered herself up to answer a question, nor did she pay attention much after the initial lecture had ended and the discussion started. With what looked like a practiced routine, she piled her books high in front of her and dipped down, pulling yet another book from her backpack. I doubted this one was a course textbook, she was pleasure reading in class!

And she was getting away with it, though I doubted the professor even cared. Maybe she was a little cunning and mischievous, but not enough to qualify as a high-profile criminal.

Laughing quietly to myself, I watched her for the rest of class. She was very interested in her book, so interested that she hardly noticed when class ended. She scurried up quickly, throwing all her school supplies back into her backpack and escaping with the rest of the class. I followed, much slower this time having known that my victim was here all along. She was probably going to lunch, or maybe work. Stopping at the side of the path, I pulled my phone out to check her work schedule. On Mondays, she worked from 5 P.M. until 9 P.M.. There was a big gap until then, which meant she might be going to her apartment.

I walked in the direction she was headed, wondering where she would go. We walked for several minutes, passing four or five buildings, until she turned and ran up the stairs to one of the larger buildings. It was the library. I almost laughed. It seemed so stereo typically. She was diligent in her studies—though the reading in class did somewhat conflict with that, she was unobservant, a clear bookworm, and now she was spending her free time in the library.

 _Alone_ , it seemed. Ten minutes later after I'd searched the entire building for her, there she was sitting in an arm chair, eating a homemade sandwich, reading a book. This part of the library was completely empty, except for her sitting on the arm chair, and me standing on the floor above her watching her. She looked too innocent.

And at this current moment, she was of no use to me. This meant I needed to investigate her in other ways. I knew her address and quickly decided to head over there.

The walk was short, ten minutes at most, through campus and across the street to the off-campus housing. They were small apartments, affordable for college students, and offered a nice feeling of independence from the university. The possibilities of what might happen once I entered the apartments was endless. Obviously, key cards prescribed by the university would not be used, considering this was off-campus. But keys in general may be used multiple times—upon entering the apartment building lobby, as well as normal at the door of the specific apartment. Cameras was an unknown variable, as well.

However, this was off-campus housing. Colleges tended to be very opportune when saving money and cameras was excessive, especially for students living off-campus on their own risk. On-campus housing was a completely different story, where the college was responsible for protecting their students' dorms. Isabella's apartment may only be guarded by a cheap lock that I could pick, which would be best.

I wandered into the building, counting down the numbered doors until I found Isabella's. Just as I reached it, the door swung open and a short, curly-haired girl stepped out. Her eyes caught me immediately, and a puzzled look crossed her face.

I mirrored her expression. "Hi."  
"Hi." she responses, uncertainly. "Can I help you?" I didn't miss the way her eyes raked over me. I wouldn't deny that I was good looking, but I didn't boast either. It was clear that she felt some attraction towards me and it was clear that my apparent attraction was one of the first things she saw, or perhaps she looked for. Maybe a nice lie would work in my favor, if not I would have to come back later.  
"Yes, actually. I'm looking for Isabella. My friend—his name is Nick—he is being a doofus about everything. You see, he likes your friend, Isabella, and he refuses to approach her. He gets like that sometimes."

The girl's eyes lit up as I talked and she smiled. "Well, first, she prefers 'Bella'. Calling her Isabella is kind of a deal-breaker, tell Nick that! And second, she is out now. But how about you come by later today when she is here and you can bring Nick."

"Yeah! Sure." I lie smoothly, faking enthusiasm.  
"Oh, this is exciting! Bella hardly ever comes out of her little bubble. She is very anti-social, it's amazing she ever caught Nick's eye."

Amazing that she ever caught Jane's eye, actually.

"I was just going to my class."

"Oh, can I walk with you?"

"Sure thing."

"What's your name? I'm Mike."

"Jessica."  
"Nice to meet you. You said Bella was anti-social, is she really? I've never really paid much attention to her until I got roped into this by Nick, but it's not completely a waste." I say, giving Jessica a smile.

This girl was too easy to flirt with. She smiled quickly, a blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Bella doesn't hang out with anyone. She has never gone to a party, never done drugs, I think she only got drunk once while she has been here. She goes home basically every weekend."  
"Secret boyfriend?" I question, chuckling to make my question casual.

"Hell no! Bella is such a goody-two-shoes. She doesn't even date or do one-night stands. I think she is a virgin." the girl shakes her head in disgust.

"Are you two good friends?"

"Barely. She is very closed off, but innocent, you know? I like getting a little wild sometimes." Jessica grins at me. "But Bella just doesn't do that stuff. I'm honestly getting a new roommate next semester."  
"What about friends? Maybe she does get a little wild sometimes, but doesn't tell anyone."  
"She only has one friend, Jacob. He is pathetic, just as closed off as she is. I think he has a thing for her, but she is so uninterested it's a little sad. She is sad, it's depressing looking at her life."

We were in a main quad now and I could see Jessica eyeing the building she needed to go into.

"I probably shouldn't make you late." I tell Jessica, "After talking about Bella a bit, I think I'll have to tell Nick to pass. She seems a little too good for Nick."

Jessica laughs. "Yeah, good little Bella."

"Maybe we'll see each other around sometime, though." I tell Jessica with a small smile. I brush a small curl out of her face with the back of my hand. "It was good talking to you, good luck with your class."  
Jessica stuttered a bit, clearly shocked by my actions before she voiced a goodbye to me and scurried to her class.

Alone, again, I let my wonders take over.

What did Jane want with Bella? Jessica's words had only confirmed what I initially felt for the doe eyed girl, she was innocent and good. But Jane hated her and wanted Bella's death to be noticed. She wanted Bella's friends and family to know that it was murder, not just a missing persons case. Jane wanted there to be no hope left for them. Maybe it wasn't for Bella's family and friends, maybe it was for the entire world: maybe it was a warning. The thoughts swarmed in my mind as I made my way back to Jessica and Bella's apartment.

Jessica had a good idea of who Bella was, but, as she said, Bella did go home every weekend. Maybe it wasn't exactly to Forks every weekend, she could have been anywhere. Being a criminal wasn't always so demanding that you couldn't be in school, it could be a job done when your roommate was out partying and on the weekends.

Knowing the apartment was empty, I picked the lock at the door and quickly slipped inside. Bella was probably still at the library and Jessica wouldn't be out of class for at least an hour, depending on which class she was going to. The apartment was small: it opened to a two-chaired table on the right and a small kitchen fully equipped on the left. The rest of the space opened to a small sitting area and three closed doors.

One of the doors led to a small bathroom and the other, I guessed, was Jessica's bedroom based on the poster's, empty beer bottles, and tabloids. The other bedroom was much simpler. There were no posters or magazines, it was cleaner, but still cluttered. A few books were piled on the floor near a twin bed, and others were spread over the desk and then stuffed into the small bookshelf.

There were several picture frames on the desk, which I studied without touching. I was sure they were of Bella and her parents when she was a child. There was nothing that raised suspicion for me, but I checked in her closest—slightly messy, but held very simple closed, a few pairs of sneakers and boots, and some more books—and her dresser, which didn't hide any drugs, alcohol, or evidence that Bella was involved in bad things.

I checked in her side-table, there was nothing there but some old CDs, a textbook about biology, and a notebook. Her bookshelf held classics and novels by authors that weren't particularly famous, along with some old classical music CDs. There was nothing here. Absolutely nothing.

"What does Jane want with you?" I demanded, glaring at the dresser. "Why am I doing this?"  
Why was I going to kill someone who screamed nothing but innocence? She was too innocent for me to ignore. The worst thing she probably ever did in her life was skip a class without an excused absence or miss a deadline on a paper—which hardly seemed likely.

I couldn't ignore the signs, the piling evidence that she was innocent. I was unable to even ignore it for a moment.

Isabella Swan could not possibly be a killer!


	4. October 16 pt 2

Chapter 3: Monday, October 16

I returned to the library after ensuring everything in the apartment was as it was before I entered. Bella was still sitting in the chair reading the same book, though she had finished a considerable amount of the text.

I sat on the upper level again, watching her out of the corner of my eye while pretending to read a book. It was almost a little sad that I had come to this. By now, after knowing she was mostly a loner, I would have been planning some way to kill her. Right now, the last thing I could think about was her death. I would not be delivering it, I already decided that. I just needed to know that Bella was worth dying for. Jane was absolutely going to kill me, that was a fact.

Bella was very intrigued by her book. Every now and then her expression would change to reflect the story, she smiled only once and it left just as quickly as it came. But the smile crinkled up her doe-eyes and her pale skin went a tiny bit pink before the color left again.

It took about thirty minutes before Bella put her book away and left the library. I followed her again, keeping my distance. She ventured into the cafeteria, and I waited outside knowing it was be noticeable if I went inside as well.

I spent the time on my phone, searching everything I could possibly think of in Google before Bella finally came out again. She walked, once again, back to the library.

Frustration was starting to settle on me. Was she going to spend her life in the library? She didn't go to the chair she sat in for two hours before, instead she settled at a desk and began pulling her textbooks out.

I grabbed a computer, putting some movie on knowing she would be here for a while. I was hidden, though I could see her very well and every couple of minutes I checked to ensure that she was still devouring her work. She never looked up from her books or greeted any of the students who walked past, nor did they make an effort to greet her. She never touched a cellphone or social media on her laptop—it was a possibility that she did not spend much time on social media or even have any accounts, but she had to have a phone at the very least. But as she continued studying, the possibility of her having a phone was becoming questionable to me.

I had to remind myself several times that one day of watching her could not allow me to generalize her entire life. She kept to herself today, but tomorrow could be different. Tomorrow she might be meeting a bunch of friends and she was getting all of her work done now. Maybe was she a responsible person, but also very sociable. There possibilities of who Isabella Swan is was endlessly.

I watched a movie and a half before Bella got up. But if anyone asked me the plot, I could never tell them. My attention was elsewhere for the hours I spent in the library before the computer.

Bella gathered her things up and left the building. I followed her again and we went into the building next door. She immediately turned into a glass-walled section of the building which was labeled _English Department._ It was 5 o'clock, she was starting work now.

I didn't bother staying to watch, especially with the glass-walls, I would be too noticeable. I called the day quits, returning back to my apartment. I made myself a quick dinner since I didn't eat today except for breakfast and devoured that while mindlessly watching the news. It wasn't anything interesting, just some crap about school counties idiotic actions in a small town.

After dinner, I grabbed my keys, heading back out. I didn't go to the school, I went in the opposite direction to downtown Seattle. There was a spot where everyone hung out when they weren't working and I was sure that someone would be there for me to get my mind off things. The drive wasn't far, I chose my apartment with this location in mind. When I got there, I parked and made my way through the abandoned tracks.

Once the place was abandoned, criminals moved in. There were a series of tunnels that went over the tracks that were great hangout spots and abandoned buildings surrounded the area, it was almost like a valley but flat with buildings surrounding the tracks instead of mountains.

The place was nicely lit and noisy, but the cops never dared to come bust us because we were such a huge collection of people with even bigger weapons than they dared to consider being armed with. I walked along one of the tracks my crew often met at and in one of the tunnels I found several of them together.

"Edward!" Garrett, the "leader" of my crew exclaimed. "Haven't see you around, man. I was beginning to think you got owned."

He meant I got killed.

"Not yet." I grab a bottle of beer from the stash next to Tyler, a bulky guy that use brute force instead of stealth to kill his victims. Garrett was like me, he used stealth. He was my mentor in the criminal business, he was the one that picked me up when I ran away from my family. He taught me everything, and even now he still teaches me stuff.

I pop the cap off the drink, taking a large gulp before settling down. There were a bunch of others here—Victoria, James, Riley, Bree, Maria, Peter, Tanya, and Eleazar. We were a group, with several others, and this tunnel was ours. I could say we were one of the most powerful groups in this location, just barely being beat by Marcus and his clan. But Garrett felt no need to be dominant and he hardly picked fights with anyone. Anyone who was power hungry never attempted to be part of us, they knew we didn't give a damn.

"Stressful job?" Peter asks. He had dark hair cropped short, a thin frame, and mad eyes.

"Yeah, sure."

"Just take it out on whoever you gotta take it out on. Do what you gotta do." Victoria grins. Victoria was even more mad and wild than anyone here, she was driven by the death of her victims, not the money or even the outlet being a criminal was. She was a true killer, someone who really needed to be behind bars. James was able to control her, though, and she never killed anyone when there wasn't a job associated with it. James was slightly less wild, he had a calm demeanor until he got a job. He was motivated by the hunt, the adrenaline, somewhat similar to me but he took it to an extreme. He was a hunter, Victoria was the killer.

"It's not like that this time." I sigh, leaning back against the tunnel walls. I take another swing of the beer. It tasted awful, but there was something appealing about drinking it. It made me feel like someone I wasn't, not necessarily someone I wanted to be, just someone I was pretending to be. In this tunnel with this beer, I was Edward the stealthy killer. Without the beer and tunnel, I was just a lost boy who ran away from daddy troubles.

"Someone ya can't catch?" James guesses smugly. "I'll help ya out, if ya need it."

"Ah, forget it." I drown myself in the rest of my beer, hating the bitter taste in my throat but loving the physical feeling of holding the bottle and bringing it to my lips.

"Word is that Jane's got an eye on you." Garrett tells me, raising his bottle in my direction. "I wouldn't believe it unless you told me yourself."

"It's true." I confirm, another sigh. "I'm already done even though I've hardly started."

"I'll take the case man!" Peter shouts, slamming his beer bottle on the tracks. It shatters, pieces flying everywhere. I shield my face quickly, but feel a slight pinch on my hand and I know I've got a piece of glass wedged in my skin.

There was a chorus of screams at Peter, ranging from quick reflex screams to profanities. I stayed quiet, using the dim light of the lamps under the tunnel to fish the glass out of my hand. I managed to get it out, but also cut myself and let out more blood. I'd clean it better when I got back to my apartment.

"I meant with this business, not the case." I tell Peter. "It's stressful, I'm not sure how you can do it so long." I spoke mostly to Garrett now.

Garrett smiles and then sighs. "It's tough and there is a reason why so many quit before they even start. You gotta find something you love about it, something that drives you. If it's weighing on your conscious—"

James interrupts Garrett, "If it's weighing on your conscious then get the hell out of here. You're weak and pathetic, just like the rest of'em"

"Shut up." Garrett tells him. He turns back to me, "I was going to say that you are doing something wrong. You just gotta figure out what's right."

"That doesn't mean you quit this, Edward. You can't go back home, you know what they did to you. It's just wrong." Bree tells me. "Be strong, you're just going through a crisis. Everyone does, me included, and it'll pass and you will understand that you made the right choice."  
"If it were me, I'd have killed'em." Victoria voices, shaking her head. "Your father deserves it."

"Ah, Victoria, we don't need that right now." Garrett groans. "Forget these idiots," he tells me, throwing his hand up in their direction. "focus on yourself, on what you need. Take a break if you have to, but remember that you chose this life and you have to stick with it. Once your out, you can't always get back in and you aren't safe anymore. We protect each other, that does not extend to one who leaves."

"I get it." I tell him, dropping my bottle next to my feet. "Give me another, Tyler."

"Sure thing." he throws one to me, I catch it and open the bottle, gulping the foul liquid down. "Easy man."

"Eh, let'em have it." Garrett says, waving his hand in dismissal.

"But look on the bright side, Edward. Jane spied you, that's great!" Victoria grins. "You'll get endless cases from her,  
I shake my head. "It's terrible. Once she has her eye on you, it's never gone. Every case I do may be life or death now."

"Why's that?" Victoria questions.

"No one wants to do business with Jane, Vicky." Peter tells her. "Think about it, she can kill you at any time. Edward is associated with her now."

"Edward will also be one of the best." Garrett says, pushing his bottle into the air. "That's a cause for celebration. Edward has surpassed us all."  
"Whoo!" Victoria yells, drowning half her bottle of beer.

"C'mon man," Tanya, who had remained quiet until now, stood, beckoning me to follow her. Tanya was my closest friend—actually, the only person I associated with that I could call a friend. Her past was similar to mine, bad family and so she fled. She understood my need to get away from them, but also my desire to rekindle my relationships with them.

"You're in a bit of trouble." she tells me, once we were out of ear-shot of the rest of the group. "Want to talk about that?"  
"Yeah, sure. If I said no to Jane, I would be dead. If I screw this up, I'll be dead. If I survive, I'll always have her on my trail and someway or another I'll end up dead."  
"That's quite predicament. What are you going to do about that?"  
"No idea."  
"How is the case going?"  
"It's fine. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, the girl is innocent."  
Tanya stops walking, turning to face me. "You can't think like that, Edward."

"I know. It's dangerous, it goes against everything we've been taught."  
"Why are you thinking like that?" Tanya asks me, confused. "You've always been the best of us. Even Garrett liked you."  
"I want this to be my last case. I want to go back to my family and fix things, for my sister. I'll do it for my sister because I've screwed her life up."  
Tanya nods. "I see."  
"I need to go back before I destroy everything permanently."

"Get it done, then. Go back with your family."

"But she's innocent Tanya!" I groan, running my fingers through my hair. Tanya sits down on the tracks of the railroad, sighing.

"Why do you think she is innocent?"

"She couldn't have wronged Jane, not in any way. She is so absorbed by her education and her father—who is her only family—that she couldn't possibly have time. Also, she has no friends, she doesn't party or drink, or even go any place other than back home to visit her father. She is much of a loner and too innocent and normal to be into this stuff."  
"Normal? Edward, look at yourself. No one would ever peg you as a killer."

"Probably not. But I'm also not enrolled at a university and visiting my father every weekend." I tell Tanya. "Her father is the chief of police in Forks. She would never work against her father."  
"You seem like you really understand this girl." Tanya notes.

"I've been watching her, I've gone through all of her stuff in her apartment. I feel like I do, she isn't that complicated. She doesn't really have much of a life, to be honest."

"If you don't kill her Jane will kill you."  
"I'm not sure if saving myself is worth killing her." I tell Jane quietly. "Killing her might just break me, she is too innocent. She doesn't deserve it."

"Then send her into hiding." Tanya was the only person I'd ever told. Sometimes when my victims were too hard to kill, I would give them money and ID and tell them to run. As far as I knew, none of them were found yet.

"I can't do that either. She can't protect herself. And Jane wants me to show her body to the entire world."  
"Oh no."

"What time is it?"

"Eight." Tanya responds after glancing at her watch.

"Shit." I mutter. "I've got to go."  
"Yeah, sure." Tanya stands up with another sigh. She runs her fingers through her long blonde hair. "Listen Edward, I love you as a friend and I wouldn't be able to take it if you gave yourself up for this girl. But I'll understand if you do. Also realize that the end of the case will mark a lot of things for you, think about your parents and Alice. You need to fully know the dangers of letting this girl go free. Jane can easily hire someone else to kill her and you'll have died in vain, know that."  
"Thanks Tanya."

"Be safe and if you do decide not to kill her, call me first. I won't lose you without saying goodbye."

I nod. "I will." I leave Tanya on the tracks, walking back to my car and returning home. One I got home, I went through the process of making some coffee, took a shower to rid myself of the smell of beer, cigarette smoke, and the tracks, and then proceeded to down a few cups of coffee.

I wasn't even buzzed from the drinks I'd had, so I quickly finished my coffee and drove back to campus. Isabella would still be at work, according to her schedule. I returned to the building I knew she would be in and found that she was just leaving.

It was only 8:30, maybe she was getting off early today. Either way, I waited outside for her. She was out of the building within a few minutes and quickly passed me without glancing in my direction. She walked across the quad between the buildings and entered a small coffee shop that was built into one of the buildings. I followed after her, waiting until she was inside the coffee shop to get inside. It wasn't like Starbucks or any of the chain coffee shops. This place was small and packed, it was dim but a few booths meant for studying had brighter lights. It was homey and nice, with quiet music playing in the background. Isabella picked a booth and dropped all of her books onto the table. One of the books—a bright red one—slipped off the table and fell.

Without even thinking, I walked over to her, picking up the book. She had noticed the book, but chose to take her backpack off before bending to pick it up. I spied the cover of the book, _The Catcher in The Rye_.

"The Catcher in The Rye, huh?" I asked her, without thinking. Why wasn't I thinking?

Isabella blushes madly, her entire face turning a shade of pale red. "Yes."  
"School or pleasure?" I question. I was being stupid. I knew it, but I didn't care. I was talking to Isabella after watching her for so long, it was almost surreal.

"Pleasure." she blushes again. I hand her the book.

"I've head it's a terrible book." I tell Isabella, curiously. I'd never read it, heck I didn't ever do much reading.

"It's one of my favorites."

"Why?"

"It's a coming of age book, it's rebellion and defiance, and family love. . ." Isabella trails off, smiling slightly to herself. "It's stuff we don't talk about."

"You like rebellion and defiance?" This was all wrong. Innocent, doe-eyed Isabella could not like defiance and rebellion, she was not a rebel or defiant. She was smart, innocent, and perfect.

"Oh no." Isabella laughs, blushing more. "Not for me, but his thought processes...They're interesting."  
"Thought processes?" I almost laugh, but I did smile. "That's what you like this book for?"

"Have you read it?" Isabella frowns at me and I know I've offended her.

"No."

"Read it." She snaps. Then she snatches the book from my hands, putting it on the table. She turns back to me, raising an eyebrow. "Well, are you going to leave? I have homework and I'm not interested in talking to you anymore."  
"Yeah, I'll leave." I tell her coldly. "Don't drop your books if you don't want people to criticize."

"Noted." her voice was like ice and her doe-eyes were hard. I turned, leaving the coffee shop no longer caring about Isabella Swan and her innocence.

I would kill her tonight.

I drove back to my apartment, mostly glaring at the road. I wasn't sure why I was so upset, but Isabella had gotten very cold somehow and I almost didn't want to believe that hateful emotions were possible from her. But apparently they were. Which also opened up the possibility that she could kill and only killers ever got Jane's attention.

When I returned home I realized there was nothing for me to do. I grabbed my laptop, anyway, surfing on the internet about anything interesting. I turned my TV on, hoping something might catch my attention, but nothing did. I did this for about an hour before I decided to figure out what thought processes Isabella was so intrigued by.

The first link about this book was a Wikipedia link, and then Sparknotes. SparkNotes was one of the websites that got me through high school, and knowing how reliable it was, I skipped the Wikipedia link. I read for over an hour. Every word, swallowing all the details from the plot, the characters, and the theme analysis.

Phoebe Caulfield got to me. Holdon, the main character, was attempting to figure out who he was—much like I was—and ended up in New York with drugs, drinking, prostitutes, and Phoebe, who was his only source of happiness. Phoebe was his little sister who was innocent, intelligent, mature, and got Holden unlike any of the other characters did. She was so much like Alice.

Suddenly, I had the urge to call Alice. I wasn't thinking much this evening about my actions, so I figured another stupid action couldn't hurt me entirely. I grabbed my cellphone, dialing in Alice's number, and I waited for her to answer.

"Hello?" Alice bright voice spoke.

"Hey Ali," I say quietly. I wasn't sure she heard me, it was completely quiet except for some static and then I could almost hear the smile on her face when she spoke.

"Edward! Oh my gosh, you're talking to me."  
I laugh darkly. "Yeah, I am." I hadn't talked to Alice on the phone for years. "Have you ever read The Catcher in the Rye?"

"Oh year, I did last year for English."  
"Did you like it?"

"Kind of, it was a little weird. But it was good."  
"What did you like about it?" I question. "Did you like his thought processes?"  
"He was very sorry about life, and he kept using the word 'phony' which was weird. He also really didn't want to be an adult, he kind of felt sorry for them, I think. He was very lonely and he lied a lot. But I think it was all part of him just trying to deal with pain. We all deal with it in different ways."

"That's interesting." I say.

"Are you reading it?"

"Nope, a friend of mine is."  
"Hmm."

"I have to go, Ali." I tell her, "I have some work to do."

"Oh. You're still coming to pick me up on Sunday, right?"

Oh. I promised Alice I'd bring her to Seattle. How could I have forgotten?! If I was going to let Isabella live, I wouldn't see Alice again.

"Yeah, of course." I lie, cursing myself silently. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Edward."  
"Bye." I shut my phone, throwing it against the wall with a groan of frustration. I hated Isabella so much. I paced around my apartment for a very long time. I didn't sit down until my legs started to ache, and at that point I was sure the anger was gone. Now I could think.

Isabella had to go. I needed to stay with Alice.

Isabella liked this novel about growing up and pain and rebelling, but she didn't rebel. She had all the opportunities to rebel, to drink, to go to parties, but she didn't. Instead, she went to her classes, did her homework, and tutored people. She was interesting, she didn't fit the profile of a criminal and I was absolutely sure she wasn't a criminal. She couldn't possibly be a criminal.

I related to that book though. And I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about that. Phoebe was to Holden what Alice is to me, and even though I could hardly admit it, becoming an assassin was my way of figuring out my life. I couldn't even call my issues with my parents issues, they were so much more. They were reasons to wage a war against each other, and that was something we did. We fought and screamed at each other. But Isabella's family wasn't like that. Isabella didn't have siblings, I don't think. Her mother wasn't in Forks, so she must have died or she lived somewhere else. Isabella seemed very close to her father, according to what her roommate told me.

Isabella was a very good person. Her life being taken over mine was very unfair, but destroying Alice's life was just as unfair. This was complicated and I've always hated complicated. In complicated situations, black and white turn into gray and gray is terribly dangerous.

Now I was stuck. I couldn't kill Isabella and I could let Jane kill me.


	5. October 17

Chapter 4: Tuesday, October 17

I woke up early after hardly sleeping. I couldn't sleep knowing someone had to die within a few days and it was either Isabella and my sanity, or me and Alice's sanity. I couldn't decide, either way I was hurting someone. I didn't care about my life, Alice was the only one stopping me from turning myself into Jane today. That, and what Tanya said about Isabella dying whether or not I kill her.

I couldn't get myself to eat any breakfast, so I took a quick shower, grabbed my gun from my closet, and left the apartment. I returned to campus, checking Isabella's schedule today and finding that she only had one class, which was _Anthropology_. I didn't bother going into the classroom, she might have remembered me from last night and I wasn't about to lecture her about coincidences if she saw me.

No, instead I was going to wait after class and confront her. I was going to demand to know what she had done and if she was a terrible person, I would kill her on the spot. If not, I would kill myself to save Jane from having to do it. I had it all planned out already, now I just had to wait.

I sat outside, waiting. I didn't do anything, in fact I'd even left my phone home so it wouldn't be a distraction today. I watched everyone as they walked and I waited.

I w as stiff from lack of movement by the time the doors to the building opened and students poured out. I scanned the groups for Isabella, and quickly discovered her. She was walking quickly, pushing her way through the crowd. I smiled, following after her. Once away from the crowd, her path was clear—she was going towards her apartment. This was almost too easy—the apartments were located behind the campus and the path to get there was out of sight of the main quads.

I followed her, not really caring anymore that she might see me. Once we were far enough away from campus and trees obscured the view of us, I walked at a faster pace, catching up to her.

I grab her arm, pulling my gun out and pressing it to her back. She gasps, trying to spin around, but my grip on her arm was too tight.

"If you scream I'll shoot." I tell her menacingly.

"What do you want? I don't have any money with me." she gasps, trying to pull away.

Her attempts were pathetic. I laugh darkly. "I don't want you money."

"Oh no." she whispers, mostly to herself. I pull her off the pathway, towards an alley a few hundred yards from where we were.

"What did you do?" I demand, roughly pushing her into the wall of the building. She struggles, clawing at my arm to get free.

"I—I didn't—please." she gasps, her eyes wide with fear. There was recognition in her eyes. I let her go and she stumbles, grabbing at the bricks for support.

"What did you do?" my voice was harsh and mean, and I knew I was scarring her. She should be scarred, anyone would be terrified if they had a gun pointed at them.

She shakes her head, attempted to form a sentence but too shocked to speak. "I don't. . . I don't know—I—I"  
I point the gun at her. "Jane Volturi said you did something, what was it?"

"I've never met her, I swear! Please don't hurt me." she was begging and she was terrified, but she could speak. Though I was positive at any moment she would collapse, her entire body was trembling and it looked as if she was going to cry. I hated the way she was looking at me right now, with fear and hatred and recognition. Most times I enjoyed that feeling, it made me feel power even though I was hardly that. But right now I only felt miserable for poor, innocent Isabella.

"Okay." I mutter, I tuck my gun into the back of my jeans, pulling my shirt and jacket over it. "No more gun, I won't hurt you, I promise. I just need you to answer my questions, alright?"

Isabella nods quickly, her hands wiping at her face to dry her tears.

I sigh. "If you try to run or scream or do anything, I will take my gun out again." I warn her.

She nods quickly, fear sparking in her eyes again.

"Jane Volturi, have you ever heard her name before? Does it even seem familiar?"

"No," Isabella shakes her head. Her voice was shaking, so were her hands as she gripped the bricks for support.

"Sit down." I tell her, reaching for her hands. She jumps back, gasping. "Just sit down, you look like you're going to fall."  
"I'm fine." she whispers.

"Is her name familiar at all?"

Isabella shakes her head no. I sigh, leaning against the building opposite of her and crossing my arms.

"Have you been down by the tracks? I'm in Marcus' group, I'm sure you would've seen me." I was lying about being with Marcus, but I wasn't about to mention Garrett if Isabella really was a criminal. She might end up having him killed.

She shakes her head no again. She didn't sit, either. She stood like a statue, though she was shaking, and her refused to meet my gaze. She wasn't lying, she was simply horrified. She wasn't a criminal either, if she was she would have recognized that Marcus' name. But she didn't, she didn't even know Jane.

"Have you noticed any suspicious people or behavior around you within the last few weeks? Has anything big happened in your life recently? Something that might have caught the attention of a stranger?"  
"What the hell do you want with me?" Isabella growls. Her voice faltered towards the end of her question and she, somehow, wrapped her arms tighter around herself making her figure even smaller than it already was.

"I was hired to kill you." I tell her, my voice gentler.

"What?" Isabella's lips were pale white and the fear was even more apparent on her face, which was expected, but not it was bugging me. "Why?" she voice was weak and she looked like she was going to fall over.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. You're innocent, I know you are. I just need to find out what _she_ had against you. I don't want to kill you, I'm _not_ going to kill you." I'd said it, now I had to live with it. I unconsciously made my decision to spare the innocent girl. She had a proper family, I didn't, she was getting an education, I wasn't, she didn't have a record, I did. She had the better life and I knew she would amount to something better, she was needed in the world, while I wasn't. Alice had been living without me for four years, it wouldn't be any different. Today I would leave without killing Isabella, drive back to Forks and see Alice, and then I would let Jane do whatever she pleased. "I've been watching you—"

"You've been watching me?" Isabella screeches. I slap my hands over her mouth.

"Shut. Up!" I growl. "Do you want to attract the attention of everyone?"

"Actually yes." Isabella tells me, pushing me away. "You're a criminal! You're an assassin!"

"Yes, I am. And I will kill you if you don't shut up." I tell her. "I'm giving you an out right now, I'm asking you for your help and in return you get to live. Can you pretend that means something?"  
"What do you want to know?" Isabella asks me.

"Has anything big recently happened in your life?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

Isabella nods weakly. "I'm not lying, I swear!"

"Has anything happened in the last few weeks that I should know about?"

"I—I don't know." Isabella stutters. "I've just . . . I've been at school."  
"At home, maybe? Your father lives in Forks, anything there?"  
"No." Isabella says, shrugging. "I swear, nothing."

"Do you have any enemies?" I ask her.

She shakes her head again.

"No one? No past boyfriends or friends or anyone like that? Maybe someone you met on the street who might have been overly rude to you?"

Isabella is quiet for a moment. "No." she finally answers, hesitating.

"You hesitated. Who did you think of?"

Isabella is quiet again, she was shaking. I wasn't entirely sure if it was getting worse due to the cold or the shock. Either one was bad and I needed to get Isabella to calm down and into a warm area.

"Jacob Black, but he wouldn't try to kill me."

"Who is he?" I question.

"Just an old friend in Forks. We got into a fight, that's all. He hasn't called me back."

"That's not it." I tell her, frustration flowing into me. "I was hired to kill you by Jane Volturi, you wronged her in some way and she wants you gone."

"Please, don't kill me." Isabella begs, her eyes wide. "I promise, I didn't do anything!"

"I know, I know." I tell her, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just need to understand why I'm supposed to kill you."

"Who is Jane Volturi?" Isabella asks.

"She is a criminal, she runs all the crimes in Seattle." I tell Isabella. "She has people in other states, too. But Seattle is her main play-place. Something got her eye on you, she picked you out of hundreds of people. I need to know why."  
"But why? If you're not going to kill me." Isabella whispers.

I chuckle. "Consider if my dying wish."

"You're going to . . die?" Isabella struggled to ask the question.

"It's me or you." I tell her, shrugging. "You've got something to live for, plus you're innocent."

"Why didn't you just kill me? If you said you've been watching me."

"I've been doing this for a long time, Isabella. I know innocence when I see it and you were innocent, but I've been trying to ignore it and trying to find a way to prove that you weren't. But you are, there is no denying that. I didn't kill you at first because your behavior intrigued me, I wanted to understand who you are and know how you interacted with the world." I laugh again, this time darkly. "I wanted to know why it was you, I thought that maybe it was something deeper that Jane picked up on that I didn't pick up on. But there isn't anything, when I realized that I also realized that I couldn't kill you."

Isabella was scared still.

"You're cold, and scared. Would you feel better if we went to a public place?" I ask her, "We can go to the coffee shop."

"Okay." Isabella mutters. I let her follow me, hoping it would make her safer and knowing that she wouldn't attempt to run. Within ten minutes, we arrived at the shop. It was emptier than yesterday,

which worked out in my favor, and I picked a booth for us in the far back away from any prying eyes. Isabella sat down, still shaking and pale, and I went to the counter and got two cups of coffee and a muffin for Isabella. It was almost funny to think of me, the assassin, buying Isabella, my victim, some food and coffee to help her get over her shock, but I suppressed my amusement and simply brought the items I bought back to our table.

She stares at me, not completely knowing what to think, but accepts the coffee.

"I'm not entirely sure where to start, or if I should even be telling you anything." I admit, stirring some sugar into my coffee.

"You need to tell me everything." Isabella says.

"Not everything, but I'll tell you some stuff."  
"Right now, is my innocence the only thing holding you back?"

"Even if I wanted to kill you, Isabella—"

"Bella." she quickly corrects.

"Sorry, Bella, I wouldn't. I couldn't." I explain.

"Why?"

"Too many things." I shake my head. "I only got your photograph and name, I was expected to work from that, which is relatively easy. But there was something about you, you have a very simplistic beauty and innocent demeanor. Also, I'm only realizing this now, but you remind me of my little sister. Your book certainly did, as well. Phoebe is an exact replica of her, only much younger."  
"I thought you didn't read it."

"I told you I am very intrigued by your behavior. You liked a very interesting and, almost, insulting book. It's controversial, rebellious, and concerned with topics you don't seem to face, I couldn't possibly understand why you enjoyed reading it. I read up quite a bit on it last night. It's a very interesting sounding book, but I'm still unsure of why you would like it."

"I guess I'm not that simple."

"No, you're very simple, no offense. You're just surprising and unpredictable."

"You won't kill me because I'm beautiful?" Bella asks, almost glaring.

"No, I'm not doubting that you're beautiful. But it was your actions and the way you carry yourself, that's what stopping me. I've been trained a certain way, Bella, to kill. But you've put everything I've learned to the test and I have clearly failed. This right here," I motion between us with my finger, "the talking, the coffee, this isn't allowed. I shouldn't be telling you anything, I shouldn't be even talking to you."

"Will you have to kill me for talking to me?"

"Not if you don't tell anyone. Either way, it won't matter much. No one can do any harm for me if I'm dead." I wasn't quite lying, but I was cheating her. She was still going to die, Jane wouldn't leave a job unfinished.

"I won't tell anyone."

"I know." I tell her confidently, taking a sip of my coffee. It was bitter and hot and it burned my tongue. "It was too easy, you know. That's what's confusing me about all of this. I was given this assignment on Sunday, I found out that you lived in Forks, I found your father, and I found out that you came to school here on Sunday. I watched you all of Monday, I attended all of your classes, I watched you in the library. It shouldn't have been that easy, do you realize that?"  
Bella shakes her head. "I'm having a hard time not being creeped out, to be honest."

"Be honest." I tell her. "And yes, I'm sure you are very creeped out. I apologize for what I've done to you thus far."

"Why did you accept this. . . assignment?"

She was unsure of the word, but her entire statement was also a question. "It's tricky, trying to figure out what to call it. We're not supposed to be emotional, so we say assignment or job, and we refer to the person not as a victim, but a subject. It's complicated. I didn't chose to accept it. It's an interesting system that takes time to understand, but the basics. There are many levels of criminals, as you get higher and higher you pay people to do your dirty work. Once you feel like people aren't loyal to you or they might be profiting more than you want them to be or they might even be gaining too much power, you hire assassins to kill them. The lower class criminals are the ones I usually work for, they have easy targets, they also don't care if you screw it up because they don't have to prove themselves worthy to anyone. They literally have nothing to lose. Once you get up higher and higher, it's more competitive and dangerous. Jane Volturi is the highest of all classes, consider her the ruling Queen of all criminals. She makes the rules and she's powerful so no one can overthrow her. Every other day she hires an assassin to kill someone. She chooses you, you don't get to volunteer. She chose me, and the thing about Jane is that you don't say no to her or you end up dead. When I was given your case, I knew that I either had to kill you or I would end up dead. There was no debating with Jane, no questions, nothing but acceptance."  
"She is still going to kill me though?" Bella says quietly. "If she really is so powerful, even if she kills you, she will just get someone else."

"You're clever." I mutter. "Yes, she will hire someone else."

"What are you going to do about that? Why not just kill me and save yourself?"

"Killing you will be crossing my limits. I wanted to get out of this crime organization, I want to go back and make up my relationship with my sister. If I kill you, I'll lose my sanity and then being alive or dead—there isn't any difference."  
"But either way, we both end up dead. What's the point in anything?" Bella questions.

"I'm not entirely sure. Maybe just the idea that I might die with a clean slate."  
"But you don't have a clean slate, you kill people. You probably have been for a long time if the most powerful criminal wanted you to take care of me." Bella was over her shock now, she was thinking clearly. She was thinking in a clever way, why was she so clever? I had pictured her to be a dumb girl to get on Jane's sight, then as intelligent and dedicated after seeing her study, but now she was clever. Being clever was a skill and she had mastered it.

I smile. She was right, but she was also wrong. "I've never kill anyone." Only Tanya knew that, in fact Tanya had taught it to me. When I joined Garrett's group, Garrett gave me an easy target and he helped me kill him. I knew that I would never be able to kill another person. It was sick, vile, and hateful. Tanya recognized this and she taught me a way to get rid of them without my conscious being scarred—simply pay them to hide. Tanya had been doing it for years and I started doing it. To this day, my only kills have been the one one that I accidentally killed—which got Garrett's attention, that was when he invited me to join him and be an assassin—and the one Garrett and I killed together.

"Oh really?" She raises an eyebrow. "An assassin who has never killed a soul? How's that for irony?"  
"I pay them to leave. I give them passports, ID, money, I give them a location and I tell them to run. If they got caught, well, they would have died if they didn't try to run anyway. It's not really on my hands, I consider it helping them. As far as I know, none of the people I've sent away have been caught. Once the assassin says their victim is dead, no one really bothers to check."

"Are you going to do that with me?"

I laugh. "You're smart, you're clever, but you're not a criminal. You don't know how to hide from criminals. Besides, Jane said she wanted everyone to know you were dead, which means your body has to be found."

Bella pales again and quickly averts her eyes from my face.

"I'm not going to kill you." I tell her, reminding her I wasn't a threat. Not anymore at least, I may have pulled my gun out before, but I wasn't going to do that again.

"You won't, but Jane will." her voice was just a whisper and suddenly I regretted everything. Why did I have to make her wait for her death?

"You don't want to die." I state simply. She looks at me, bewildered.

"Of course I don't! I have so much to live for."  
"Do you trust me?"  
"You pulled a gun on me a half hour ago." She whispers, glaring. "How am I supposed to trust you?"  
I nod, chuckling. There was something humerus about this situation, though I couldn't directly figure it out. "Let me rephrase, do you trust that I won't hurt you?"

"Maybe. I don't know. But you haven't so far."  
"I haven't given you much reason to trust me. But you don't want to die, I don't want you to die, I don't want to die, and I don't want to kill you. I also am a criminal—or at least can think, act, and move like one—and you need protection."

"What are you implying?" Bella questions.

"Come with me to my apartment, you'll be safe there and I'll have a friend of mine watch you to ensure you are safe. I can go get somethings and we can run."

"Are you crazy?!" Bella shouts in a whisper, furious. Her face was red, though not from embarrassment.

"Yes, I am. But I'm also alive and I'm sure you can understand how big an accomplishment that is when you work as a criminal for criminals and you cheat them all the time."

"No, I don't understand! My understanding of criminals is that they are behind bars."

"Yes, well now you have the choice of letting one protect you or calling your father to arrest him. But either way, both of us end up dead. I'll let you decide."

I pick up my empty cup of coffee, sliding out of the booth. Bella didn't move, but I knew that she would accept my offer. I didn't wait for her inside the coffee shop, I went outside and started my way back to my car. Within a few minutes, I heard Bella running to catch up to me.

"Wait!" She calls, panting when she finally reaches me. "Fine, I'll come. But you leave the gun."  
I laugh. "Not happening."  
"I'm not going to risk it, leave the gun."  
"Bella, I have sworn that I will not hurt you. I am putting my life at risk to not kill you and to hide and protect you, why would I use my gun on you?"

"I don't know." Bella snaps. "You're very selfish, I'm only alive for your personal gain."

"Think, rather, of this. We are hiding in some hotel somewhere, hoping we don't get caught and then one of Jane's men finds us and pulls a gun on us and attempts to shoot one of us. I can't protect you with a pillow and blanket, now can I? No, I can protect you with a gun. Do you still want me to leave it?"  
She is quiet a moment, realizing what I'm saying. "Fine, but I'll hold it." she holds her hand out for me to give it to her.

"I'm regretting calling you clever. Guns aren't legal on campuses, if I hand it to you right now, we'll both be arrested."  
Bella flushes red and drops her hand. "Okay, sorry."  
"So you've made your decision then?"

"Yes." she mutters. "I'll come with you."

"Smart move." I whisper under my breath. Bella walked besides me, keeping her distance but close enough that anyone who saw us knew that we were walking together.

"Since we are running away together and you've sworn not to kill me, I'm assuming we are supposed to be friends." Bella says eventually. We reached the car now, and I unlocked the door, holding the passenger door open for her.

She gives me an odd look of confusion, but gets in anyway and accepts it when I close the door for her. I walk around to the other side, getting in.

"I would think so—or rather hope so. It would be better if we could deal with each other, considering the opposite person is our only company." I tell her, backing out of my packing space.

We drive most of the way in silence.

"You didn't have to pull your gun out on me." Bella tells me eventually. She was fidgeting, clearly nervous about bringing this up. Honestly, I was shocked that she had gotten over her shock so quickly, and that she wasn't so afraid of me. She was trusting.

"Maybe not. But it was much easier to get answers."  
"I haven't given you a hard time."

"No," I agree, nodding. "but that was because you knew I had a gun and I was dangerous. I'm very surprised you are able to hold a conversation with me now, you should still be in shock or at least afraid of me."

"I can trust you." Bella tells me, her voice was sincere and naive.

I laugh. "I pointed a gun at you, pulled you into an alley, and could have killed you."

"But you didn't." Bella points out. "And now you want to protect me."  
"All of this could be a big lie." I tell her, shaking my head. "I can be a serial killer and I can be taking you back to my apartment to kill you in some sick way."  
"You won't. You don't fit the profile of a serial killer."  
"Oh? Well, do I fit the profile of a killer, at least?"

"You've never killed anyone, and no, you don't." Bella tells me. Now she was defending me. This girl was odd.

"I didn't know serial killers had profiles." I mutter. "That's what usual about them."  
"Nervous, erratic behavior. Or, overly confident, arrogant. They would try to be more persuasive about going somewhere else, and they wouldn't put their gun away. They also won't string together an entire life's story and talk about why they wanted to kill me."  
"I'm assuming your father taught you this."

"Yes." Bella's voice was prideful and happy. Then, out of the corner of my eye I see Bella stiffen. "My father." she whispers, her voice faint.

"It's midterms, you have a ton of studying to do, lots of group projects and study groups planned for the weekend. That's our excuse for now, we'll figure something out later." I tell her, hoping it would relax her. It did, just the slightest bit. But she was still panicked.

"You're very good at this." Bella mumbles.

"I have to be. I've survived this long cheating. Cheating isn't taken lightly, especially in the community I work."

"I'm sure." Bella sighs. "What got you into it? I'm sure you didn't actively seek it out if you can't stand the idea of actually killing someone."

"It's a very long story." I tell her after a few moments. "One that I might consider telling you after we've been more acquainted."

"You already know everything about me."

"The facts, what I can find on official documents. Not what really makes you who you are, but we'll save it for another time." I tell her, parking the car in front of my apartment building.

Bella takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then she nods, mostly to herself, as if she was comforting herself—or encouraging herself to follow me the rest of the way. Maybe she didn't entirely believe I wouldn't hurt her. "Can I just ask you one thing?"

"I can't guarantee I'll answer it." I get out of the car, and Bella copies my actions. Once she is out, I lock the car and we start walking. She didn't ask me any question, or even say anything. She was thinking, very hard and it was causing the indentation between her eyebrows again.

I held the door to the building open for her and we take the stairs up to the second floor. Still Bella said nothing and I was beginning to get impatient wondering what was going on in her head. She paid no attention to me or to where we were going, she was still focused on her thoughts.

Finally, just as I pulled my keys out to open my front door did she look up, all determination cleared from her face and the tiny indentation gone.

"Have you finally figured out the entire universe?" I question, laughing quietly.

"What?" she asks, bewildered.

"You were thinking very hard." I shrug, smirking. "You weren't paying any attention to anything except your thoughts."

"I was trying to remember." Bella tells me, biting her lip. "You never did tell me your name. I told you mine, or at least you already knew mine."

"That's what you were so caught up about?" I shake my head, pushing my door open. I hold it open for Bella and she tentatively steps inside. She glances around quickly, taking in the small kitchen and sitting area with my very simple furniture and decorations. My mother was an interior designer, but I never really paid much attention to her handiwork, though I never denied that it was amazing. If my mother saw my apartment she would faint.

"Yes, a name is a very important thing. It gives you all sorts of power over a person."

"How so?" I ask, closing the door behind us. It was truly an interesting statement, though I wasn't entirely sure how Bella would explain it. She didn't seem like the philosophical type, or even religious, and those two topics seemed to coincide with names and meanings and power.

"Your name gives you significance and a uniqueness."

"What if you have a common name, such as Isabella. Not all of us can come up with unique nicknames."  
"That's not what I mean. It's an identity, it's got memories attached to it."  
"So you were thinking all of that? You could have just asked me what my name was without thinking of the big meaning behind it."  
"Some things should be thought about." Bella tells me bluntly. I drop my keys and gun on the coffee table in the sitting area, and Bella jumped at the sight of it.

"If you want, you can hold on to it." I tell her, motioning toward the gun. "But if someone starts shooting, you better know how to defend yourself."

"I'll just leave it there." she tells me.

I nod. "I need to go make a phone call."  
"To who?" Bella asks.

"My friend, I'm going to ask her to stay with you while I get some stuff for us before we leave. She's nice, you'll like her I think."

Bella nods awkwardly, she blushes slightly.

"You can sit down, or look around. I don't really care." I tell her, I grab my phone from where I left it on the table, dialing in Tanya's number. Bella moved toward the couch, sitting down silently. I walk over to my room, but before closing the door, I turn to Bella. She was watching me.

"My name's Edward. As for last names, that's more my family's identity than my own." I tell her. She smiles ever so slightly, and then I close the door to my bedroom to talk to Tanya.


	6. October 17-18

Chapter 5:

Tuesday October 17th

"You did what?!" Tanya yells. "How could you be so stupid Edward?"

"I know Tanya, I know. Listen, she is in my apartment now and you know I wouldn't involve you if I didn't have to. But I just need you to watch her for a couple of hours, make sure she doesn't get into any trouble, stuff like that."  
"Wait, she is willingly in your apartment, willingly running off with you, and willingly letting you protect her _after_ you pointed a gun at her and told her you were being paid to kill her."  
"Technically I haven't been paid yet." I point out.

Tanya groans. "You have made such a huge mess. When I suggested you send your victims away, I never said you go with them."  
"I know, I know. But she is different, for one she isn't a criminal so she can't protect herself. And two, I'm supposed to leave her body in the open. If I hide her, I need to hide also or I'll end up dead and eventually—with no one protecting her—she will be found and will also die. So all of our efforts will be no good."

"You're so logical it's stupid." Tanya tells me, but I could hear the grin in her words.

"So, can you help me?"

"Yeah, sure. You owe me big time though."  
"Of course. Thank you!"

"Yup. I'll be over in a bit."

I close my phone, smiling to myself and returning to the main room. Bella was still sitting on the couch, this time she was leaning back, a lot more relaxed.

"She'll be here in about an hour." I tell Bella. "Are you hungry or something?"  
"No. But I know where the kitchen is, I'm assuming you haven't poisoned the food. . . ?"

"Nope, I haven't done that." I tell her.

"Okay, cool." She says, laughing silently.

"You're very relaxed. I'm still not able to understand why."  
Bella shrugs. "Guess I'm not normal."

"Maybe not." I agree, sitting down on the couch across from her. I toss my phone onto the seat next to me so it would be close enough for me to grab it if Tanya called, but not so close that it was the only thing I was paying attention to.

Bella was still watching me, not warily, but watching me.

"Where are we going?" she asks me after the silence was too lengthly for her.

"I'm not sure, I'm thinking Oregon. We can work our way to California, maybe. Or go East, maybe North Dakota."

"Are you purposely choosing places that no sane person would go?"

I laugh. "California is a perfectly good place."

Bella shrugs. "Maybe, but not Oregon and North Dakota."  
"Corn fields are good to hide in, remember that." I tell her.

Bella makes a face, "I'd prefer California."

I smile, "I'm sure."

Bella and I sit in silence, and I eventually grab the remote and turn on the TV. I didn't expect for us to become friends immediately and I knew for a fact that things would be awkward, but the idea of awkwardness wasn't terrible until the experience was suffocating.

Bella watched silently, not protesting with the awful old movie that was playing. I wanted to laugh at the sad effects and cliches, but the room was tense still.

After what felt like many hours, I heard the front door open and then Tanya walked in. She took in the scene—me sitting on the couch, Bella on the other couch, but of us quiet and calm watching TV—and laughed loudly.

"Oh, Edward, you're too much for me." she shakes her head, walking over to Bella. She sticks her hand out for Bella to shake. "I'm Tanya, Edward's friend and rescuer when he acts idiotically."

"I'm Bella." she mutters, blushing.

Tanya smiles, "Your pretty. I can see why Edward likes you."

"Tanya!" I hiss.

Bella's eyes widen and she stares at me, blushing and shocked.

Tanya laughs, throwing her blonde hair over her shoulder. She pulls her phone out of her pocket, "Edward, I've arranged for you to meet with a friend of mine to get you and Bella some things." she turns to Bella, biting her lip. "I also got Kate to get this for me." she pulls a square paper out of her pocket, it was a small picture of Bella—perfect for an ID picture.

"Where did you get that?" Bella gasps.

"Oh sweetie," Tanya sighs. "I'd rather you didn't know how we get information. It's safer for you, and me and Edward, and all the other people involved."

"Did you break the law?" Bella whispers, her face pale. I couldn't help it, I laughed loudly, as did Tanya.

"Of course we broke the law, innocent child." Tanya gasps between laughter. "We break the law for a living, we have it down to a science and you aren't going to tell anyone about the things that we do because right now, both Edward _and_ I are breaking the law set by the government and the laws set by our community to protect you. We are risking our lives and if you so much as forget that and put Edward in even more danger than he already is in, I won't hesitate to do what he thought you were too innocent for."

"I thought that Edward was protecting me. . ." Bella says slowly.

Tanya sits down besides me, taking my hand in hers. "Bella, your life is very valuable. But to me, Edward is most valuable. If it comes down to it, I will save Edward."

"Tanya," I whisper, shaking my head ever so slightly. "we're supposed to get her to trust us."

She shakes her head, smiling at me. "Don't be so good, Edward. Do you understand, Bella?"

"Yes." she mutters.

"Good." Tanya stands up. "Edward, you should go get the things you need." she turns to me, handing me the picture of Bella. "I'll text you the address."

"Thank you." I grab my phone and my keys, glancing at Bella's stiff position. She was clearly uncomfortable with Tanya, and who wouldn't be? "Tanya won't kill you, Bella." I tell her. "So you can relax."

I leave the apartment, knowing fully that Tanya wouldn't threaten Bella anymore. I needed to get a new license for myself, credits cards, and at least a passport for Bella. We would buy a new wardrobe on our way to where ever we went, for Bella at least. I could bring my own clothes. Food would be another necessity we would get on the way there. Keeping out of sight was of the utmost importance, but traveling light was even more important. If the worst came, we needed to know exactly what to grab and run, we wouldn't have any time to dig around in fifty bags looking for a gun or a form of fake ID. A motel was probably the smartest place to go, and we would find one eventually once we had put good distance from Seattle. A car was also on the list and I was sure Tanya had come up with some sort of plan for that as well.

Tanya had texted me the address to her friend, so I stopped there first, bribed the person with money until he agreed to commit the illegal act, and then continued on my way. That alone took several hours, and by the time the documents were done—it was possible to get them made in just a few hours if you knew someone who was willing to work with you. Once the passports were done and I had purchased some basic necessities—extra bullets for my gun, another gun for Bella in the event that we get separated, a few untraceable phones, and an untraceable GPS—I began my drive back home.

I brought everything upstairs knowing I might as well just kill myself if I left it in my car. Inside my apartment, Bella and Tanya were chatting together while both eating a bowl of pasta.

"Hey," Tanya greets cheerfully. "Got everything?"

"Nope, but it's enough to get us started." I turn to Bella, "We'll wait until it's dark and then leave. Do whatever you need to before then, if you're leaving this apartment you will go with either me or Tanya."

Bella nods. "I'm a prisoner now."

"Prisoner or dead, your choice." Tanya shrugs, standing. She tosses me her keys. "I can keep Jane distracted if I'm using your car, take mine, ditch it somewhere near La Push and I'll get it from there in a few days. If you want my honest opinion, stay close, not too close, but close enough to get back in an emergency."

"I know."

"Jane won't let this go without a fight which means she will target me and whoever else has been close to you—especially during this investigation."

I nod. "I'll keep that in mind."

Tanya retreats to the kitchen and I grab a few suitcases from the closet in my room, dropping them onto my bed. I throw a bunch of my clothes into them, not wanting to take too much but also not wanting to buy too much on our way to where ever we would go. I was still packing away some of my clothes when Bella quietly slipped into the room.

She stood by the door, hardly moving.

"You can sit." I mutter, pulling the gun I bought out of the bag. I load it with bullets and drop it into the suitcase, along with the Manila folder of documents I got.

"You got a gun?" Bella whispers.

"It's yours," I tell her. "if you ever need one."

"Will I?" Bella questions.

I shrug, grabbing my laptop—with an untraceable ID—and the phones I bought into the suitcase also. "Depends, hopefully not. But Tanya is right, Jane will not go down without a fight."

"Are you that good at what you do?" Bella asks me, she had settled down on my chair in the corner of the room. Her legs were curled up under her and her arms wrapped around her torso, she looked so small and childlike and scared.

"What?"  
"Well, you said you were given the case on Sunday and it's only Tuesday." Bella exhales, laughing under her breath. "Either you're really good or I'm really bad. But if I'm really bad I don't understand why Jane would hire someone who was really good like you. Or maybe you're just really bad and that's why she hired you, because I was an easy target."  
I stare at Bella realizing that she had a point.

"She's right." Tanya said, coming into the room. "Edward is great at what he does, even the best have said he is a natural. Jane picked you because you're good, but you also have no name so you are disposable."

I didn't miss the traumatized look that passed on Bella's face when Tanya mentioned that I was disposable, but it left just as fast as it came. Bella was getting used to this.

Tanya continues after a brief pause, "But Bella is right in the sense that this was easy. You shouldn't have been an easy case, not at all. You're the daughter of the chief of police, your records would be locked down tight and Edward found you in one afternoon."

"It was just luck, Tanya." I mutter, zipping up the suitcase. "You're about the same size as Bella, would you mind getting some of your clothes for her?"

"It's couldn't have been luck. You can't be lucky _that_ many times." Tanya begins pacing around the room, thinking. "Unless. . .Unless—perhaps." she was talking to herself now, and Bella and I simply watched her.

"Do you think this was a set up?" I demand after several minutes. Tanya whips around to face me, panic covering her features.

"Jane knew you would fail. She made it so flippin' easy! _Of course_!" Tanya growls. "You guys need to leave. _Now_!"

"What? Why?" Bella asks.

"No questions." I tell her, I understood now. It made sense, and it also meant Bella and I had no time. I grab the suitcase, Tanya's keys, and my gun from the table. "Tanya, thank you so much. I'll call you when we reach, alright?"

Tanya nods. "Stay safe, alright?"

I nod. "Let's go Bella." Bella follows me silently, and I knew she was afraid by the little space she kept between us. I almost wanted to grab her hand and reassure her that she would be safe, but holding her hand wouldn't be smart—especially with what I'd done to her today—and lying was pathetic of me.

Tanya's car was in the garage under the building. Bella and I walked quickly making little sound as we made our way to the car. Once we got to the car, I let Bella get in herself while I pulled out the second gun from the bag before dumping it into the back seat. I get in, turning the car on, and then turn to Bella.

"From now on, you are no longer Bella. You're not Isabella Swan, you don't go to Seattle University or graduate from Forks high. Make up an identity for yourself now, get your story straight. You're not is Marie Dwyer. I get that you're afraid and you literally are clueless, but you have to trust me because I've done this before and I've set this up dozens of times for others. I'll keep you safe, and don't listen to what Tanya said—I'll protect you with my life, I swear on it. All I need from you is your trust and your promise that you will listen to me and let me keep you safe."

Bella nods quickly.

I hand her the gun. "Don't ever hope you'll have to use it and don't ever attempt to unless it's to save your life or my life. Understood?"  
Bella nods again.

I turn back to face the front, throwing the car into reverse, and I begin our drive.

I drove first to La Push and Bella and I quickly switched cars. After having to convince Bella to get into a stolen car we continued again. We headed in the general direction of South, I didn't take much time to care. Once we reached a highway, I kept on it for several hours. It was well into the night and all the roads were abandoned. Bella and I didn't speak and after about two or three hours, she had drifted to sleep.

 _ **Wednesday, October 18**_

I stopped twice to fill up gas and three times I checked my GPS to ensure that we were headed out of Washington, not deeper into it. I rerouted a few times, eventually ending up in Idaho. Around 5 A.M., Bella woke up. She said nothing except to ask where we were—we had passed Boise and were headed north—and to question how long we had been driving—about eight hours.

I knew we would eventually need to stop soon and find a hotel, but the distance wasn't satisfying for me yet. Bella stayed quiet and I turned on the radio to help with the silence. Around 6:30 AM I stopped again to get some gas and breakfast.

"Here you go." I drop the bag into Bella's lap and put the coffee into the cup holder.

"Overpriced muffins and two large cups of coffee?" Bella raises an eyebrow.

"Listen up," I tell her, laughing. "small convenience stores have two choices: overpriced muffins and overpriced chips and I haven't slept since yesterday night, I'm exhausted."

"I can drive." Bella overs. "I do know how to drive, plus I've slept a ton already."  
"Yes, I'm aware of that. But I would prefer driving myself, it gives me a sense of comfort. I also don't completely trust your instincts—of both direction and evading killers who are after us."

Bella nods, opening a muffin and beginning to eat it. I do the same as we continue our drive farther away from Seattle. Around 8 AM, I pull off the highway and find a somewhat decent motel. There wasn't much in the area, but we eventually settled on a Days-In. Bella needed clothes and there was a outlet just a mile away, as well as a Waffle House next door. I got us a room and then proceeded to take Bella and my suitcase inside.

It was a one-room place with two full beds, a small TV, and a bathroom. It would work until we found something more permanent.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Bella asks me as I turn on the TV. We needed to keep up with the news, especially if Jane decided to go public—which has happened a few times before.

"We stay here for a few days and then relocate. We'll stick in this general area, about half a day's drive from Seattle just in case we have to go back. The next place should be closer to an airport, but for now we're here. I'm going to call Tanya and then get some sleep, you should get some rest also."

"I slept half the drive." Bella points out.

"Then watch the news to make sure we aren't on it yet."  
"Wait, we're going to be on the news?" Bella yells. "Oh! I forgot about my father and my mother, if they see me on the news they are going to freak out!"

"You can't exactly call them and tell them, they're a liability." I tell her.

"Are you serious?" Bella demands. "I'm just going to disappear without a trace?"

"Would you like Tanya to stage a kidnapping?" I suggest sarcastically. "You're disappearing, Bella, what do you expect? You can't clue the entire world in on your whereabouts. Yes, people will worry and wonder, but that's how it is."

"Is this what you did to your family?" Bella demands. "To Alice, who I'm assuming is someone close to you. What is she? A girl friend, a sister? You're best friend?"

I glare at Bella, anger coursing through my veins. If it was possible—which it might have been—I was radiating heat from anger. " _Enough_."

Bella looked taken back by my anger, but her face became a mask I was sure was similar to mine: anger, hatred, exhaustion. . .

"I'm doing _you_ a favor right now. I've done you many favors. I don't know what the hell you did, but whatever you did got you on the bad side of someone very powerful and now I am doing all this—" I motion toward the entire room. "to protect your sorry, helpless ass. And Tanya is as well."

"You tried to kill me!"

"I can still kill you." I hiss.

"You'll lose your sanity."  
"Go to hell." I mutter. I grab my phone from where it lay on the bed, leaving the motel and slamming the door behind me. I dial Tanya's number, waiting desperately for her to pick up. Eventualy I hear her voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"I expected a call from you sooner." Tanya tells me, relief filling her voice. "How are things going?"  
"Well, Bella is doesn't quite understand what running away means. She wants to call her parents and let them know what's happening and where she is. Of all her idiotic ideas, this one takes the cake."

Tanya sighs. "Please tell you didn't fight with her. The last thing you two need is to be fighting."  
"We fought, I yelled, and she yelled right back at me. But we both know that if it comes down to it, I'll protect her with my life."

"Why do you give her so much importance, Edward? You're putting her life in your own hands."  
"They were in my hands before, and I chose to protect her life, Tanya." I sigh. "Listen, I'm going to keep an eye on the news, send me any emails if something goes wrong—I have my laptop."

"Of course. Take care, Edward."

"You too." I shot the phone, tossing it down two stories onto the pavement where it shatters. I was exhausted and definitely needed some sleep. When I returned into the room, Bella was sitting stiffly on the bed and staring at the TV with cold eyes.

"I'm going to sleep. Wake me up if there is anything on the news, someone comes to the door, or the phone rings." I grab my laptop from the suitcase, logging on and giving it to her. "Do whatever you want on it. My email is open—don't attempt to use it to contact anyone!" I warn her. "For our safety, we can not contact anyone. If I get an email from Tanya Denali, wake me up also."  
"For our safety, we can not contact anyone. Yet you are calling and emailing Tanya." Bella retorts, dropping the laptop onto the mattress.

I ground my teeth. She was getting on my nerves. "Tanya is helping to protect us."

"My father would too." Bella snaps. "He is a cop, remember?"

"Who lives and preaches the law. Disappearing takes skills that reject the law. Remember?" I turn away, going to the bed. Bella was glaring at the laptop now, and I was glaring at the bed. This wasn't going to work.

I attempted to push the thought away as I settled down, but the frustrated and anger was killing me. I did my best to ignore them, and after much time I was able to drift to sleep.

"Edward!"

I jump up, my heart racing. "What?"

Bella was standing over me, a look of panic on her face. Judging by the heat from the sun, I'd slept well into the afternoon. The TV was off now, and the curtains were drawn but the sun still peaked in and hit my face.

"Someone is at the door." Bella whispers. "It's a man."

I push the blankets off me, getting up. "Get the laptop and put it into your suitcase, and grab your gun." I tell her, I get my own gun from my suitcase, loading a bullet into the chamber. I walk quietly to the door, and then cautiously peek through the looking hole.

I release a breath of relief. It was the manager of the hotel. "It's fine, it's fine." I tell Bella, waiving at her to put her gun away. I tuck mine into between my back and the waist of my jeans, pulling my shirt over it. I open the door, just a crack.

"Hello." I say brightly.

"Good afternoon. I just wanted to come check to make sure you found everything and to remind you that we do have a breakfast tomorrow morning for an additional cost."

"Oh, yes. We still have the pamphlet you gave us at check-in, we'll be sure to come if needed." I tell him. He smiles, and wishes me a good rest of the day before leaving.

I close the door, bolting it again and turn to Bella.

"Thanks." I say. She just sits on the bed quietly, flipping the TV back on. Judging by the exhausted look on her face, she wasn't angry at me anymore.

 _"_ _Isabella Marie Swan and Edward Anthony Cullen were seen this early morning in a stolen black, corolla two-thousand-and-seven edition."_ The news reporter's voice filled the room in her rehearsed tone to capture the attention of viewers.

Bella gasps, her eyes wide. Two pictures of us were on the screen showing our age and the last place we had been sighted—La Push.

"They're behind, way behind." I tell Bella. "It's fine, we're hours from La Push and we've already switched cars."

 _"_ _Swan, a young college student at Seattle University, was kidnapped by Cullen sometime on Tuesday. Reports are saying that there are no current leads to the whereabouts of the two. Isabella Swan's father—Charles Swan, the chief of police in Forks, Washington—has issue a statement concerning a reward for finding his daughter and providing leads._ "

Suddenly the TV goes black. I turn to Bella, she had turned it off.

"Why did you do that?" I demand, grabbing the remote from her.

"They don't have any leads, and I don't want to watch it. You're a fugitive!"

"Of course I am, Bella." I shake my head. I wasn't angry, she was just really clueless about this entire process—which was expected. "I was the last person you were seen with. Jane is probably feeding them a ton of money to get this aired on national news, she knows we left Washington."

"Should we leave and go somewhere else?" Bella asks.

I shake my head. "No, we're fine now. They're looking for us, which means we should only travel by night and any public transportation is off limits. Being near an airport won't matter unless I want to get arrested."

"What are we going to do now? She knows. . . How does she know?"

"I don't know how she knows. Right now, we're going to rest. We'll relocate tonight."


	7. October 18

Chapter 6: Wednesday October 18

Bella and I didn't sleep and we didn't talk. The TV was on, but we kept it on mute and occasionally flipped through the channels searching for some more stories on us—thankfully, there was nothing more except for an occasional alert to keep an eye out for a very much wanted fugitive and girl who was kidnapped.

I kept my laptop open, hoping that Tanya would email me but knowing she wouldn't so we could all keep a low profile. Hours slowly ticked by and, after eating lunch which consisted of muffins from a convenience store, I began to wonder what my family was thinking. Surely they would have seen the news, and if they hadn't, someone would have told them. Bella's kidnapping would be huge news in Forks, considering it was so small. The news would easily have spread to surrounding areas, including where my parents and sister were. Even Emmett and Rosalie would know, someone would call them and tell them I was not going to be put into jail.

I almost wanted to laugh. How ironic that I'm a fugitive for protecting a girl and not even cared for when I pretend to kill others and work for criminals.

Bella was restless. She paced around the room, sat for a few minutes and then stood up. She took a very long shower and looked somewhat calm for about a half hour before she began pacing again. When she sat, she would shake her leg or tap her foot or fidget until she stood again. I'm sure I appeared insane—I mostly laid, quite relaxed, on the bed watching the TV and checking my laptop every hour. I took another nap, much shorter than the first one, and took a shower once I was sure the hot water used from Bella's shower would return.

It was around 10:30 P.M. when I could no longer take Bella's restlessness.

"Alright, let's go." I tell her, breaking the silence that had lasted too long. I packed up my bag, slipping my gun where it belonged, and handing Bella her own gun. She copied what I did and placed it between her jeans and back. We didn't bother checking out of the hotel in fear that the desk clerk would recognize us from the news, instead we hot wired another car and sped away from the motel.

"Where are we going now?" Bella asks.

"Closer to home, as insane as that sounds. Now that the entire world knows and is after us people might come out to investigate what happened, like your parents and my family. It's better to be closer to them just in case something happens."

"How long are we going to last?" Bella asks me. Judging by her tone I knew she was both given up and given the idea a lot of thought. Maybe that's why she was so quiet throughout the day.

"As long as we need to."

"Can't we just fake our deaths or something?"

"Yup. But in order to do that we would have to break a ton of laws, meaning if we ever could return to civilization, we could go to jail—even you, the one who is the victim in all of this."

"Am I really?"

"Not anymore," I chuckle, and Bella smiles a bit. "you volunteered to come."  
"I'm mostly sure you manipulated me."  
"I did. But at any point you can leave."

"Stop the car right here." Bella jokes quietly.

"I wouldn't do that even if you were serious." I respond with a sigh. Bella's shocked eyes fall on me and I quickly turn my gaze back to the road, I slipped up.

"Why?"

"I've said it before, your life is valuable to me."

Bella laughs. "So valuable that both you and Tanya had to remind me that your life was worth more than mine. How am I supposed to trust you when your girlfriend is swearing on your life if I'll live mine."

It was my turn to laugh now. "First of all, Bella, Tanya is not my girlfriend. Second of all, she was very sensitive and she has a hard past so she doesn't deal with things like this very well. She protects her friends, and I'm a very good friend of hers. And last, I say that to prevent you from acting stupid. In all honesty, I wouldn't give your life over mine and I'll prove that to you if we are so unlucky that a misfortune of that sort arises."

Bella is quiet, biting her lip sharply. "You and Tanya, you're too humane to be killers."

"Tanya doesn't kill, she is the one that taught me how not to kill."

"You've never killed a single person?" Bella asks me. She had shifted completely in her seat to face me, something Alice had always done.

"I have, twice." I mutter, taking a deep breath. Instinctively, my hands tighten on the wheel as I remember what happened. "The first time was an accident and the second—I didn't exactly kill him, but I didn't do anything when someone else did. I watched and the person begged me to help him but I didn't do anything."  
"Why not?"

"You'd have to know my history, why I left my family, and all of that to understand." I tell her, clearing my throat. For some reason, it had gone tight and there was a sudden pit in my stomach.

"I'm assuming you're not going to tell me that." Bella replies.

"Maybe one day, but not today. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Why?" Bella questions. "I've lived a boring life."

"Sometimes boring is ideal." I chuckle, shaking my head. "Do you miss it yet?"

Bella laughs. "Every minute." she looks down at her hands in her lap. "I'm not entirely sure what's happened in the last day—it's only been one day! But it feels like it's been ages, that I've known you for ages."

"I understand, it happens when something insane occurs."

"I was born in Forks, but my parents got divorced when I was a baby and my mom took me to Phoenix."

"Phoenix is beautiful."

"Have you been?" Bella asks, a happy surge in her tone.

"Once, but I only passed through it to get to New Mexico." I explain. "It's another very long story. Anyway, when did you move to Forks?"

"My mom got married to a minor league baseball player and his job required they move around a lot, so I lived with my dad to finish high school and then I just attended college in Seattle to live close to him."

"Does your mom still travel around with the baseball player?" I ask, chuckling at how odd the idea was.

"No, he got an injury and had to stop playing. They live in Florida now, I got to visit sometimes but most weekends I stay with my dad." Bella explains. "She has tried to convince me to move down to Florida a few times, but it's been no use."

"Why don't you want to go?"

"I feel like an intruder with my mom. She is a lot different than I am, I fit better with my dad. Plus my dad can't cook for himself and gets rather lonely."

"Interesting."

"At least tell me the good parts of your past." Bella says. "I've told you mine."

I laugh. "You're relentless."

"Yes, and stubborn and I normally get what I want if I bother you enough." Bella tells me plainly.

I laugh again. "Alright, fine." I think, attempting to figure out where to begin. "I lived in three different states, Illinois, New York, and Washington. My dad is a surgeon and my mom is an interior designer. I have two siblings, Emmett and Alice."

"Are they older or younger?"

"Emmett is three years older than me and Alice is five years younger than me. Right now, Emmett lives in Rochester with his wife and son. Alice is still in high school."

"You're an uncle?" Bella smiles.

"I've never actually met him, I'm not even what his name is. I was practically disowned, so I left home, and everyone in my family hates me except Alice."

"Why?" Bella questions. "That's wrong!"

I shrug. "I deserved most of it, but we are all wrong in same way or another. If we could redo the entire situation, I know there are things my family would have changed about how they reacted."

"I don't get it." Bella tells me.

"I'm sure you don't."

"Can you please explain it to me?" Bella asks.

"Why do you need to know?"

Bella bites her lip and is silent for a few moments, then she speaks. "I'm somewhere in Idaho right now, the world thinks that I've been kidnapped—my family thinks that I've been kidnapped, a powerful criminal wants me and you dead, I'm in the hands of an innocent kidnapper and assassin who has never killed a soul—except for two times when it wasn't his fault—and I've told you my life's story. I've trusted you when you pulled a gun on me, when you and your friend have threatened to kill me, I've trusted you so much that I haven't called my parents, that I'm allowing you to protect me. The least you can do is trust me."

Now I didn't speak. Bella waited, she didn't prompt me but she watched me carefully and I worked to keep my emotions hidden. Finally, after what I was sure was an hour, I nodded my head. Bella was entirely right, I had given her so much to hate about me and I expected her to trust me. She was open with me, always, and I hadn't given her any reason to.

"You're right." I finally say.

"So you'll tell me?" Bella asks, surprised.

I nod. "I will."

"Okay." Bella sounded uncertain, surprised, and almost guilty.

"Where should I start? It's a very long story."

"Anywhere you'd like."

I am silent for a moment. How far did I need to go back to explain to her why my family hated me and why I was an assassin that didn't kill?

"I was on good terms with my family until halfway into tenth grade. I had the typically problems that teenagers had with their parents, I wanted independence and I wasn't quite ready for it. We fought often and we would always resolve it, but sometimes to took weeks and other times it would take days. The biggest impact was my father. I wanted to be closer to my father than to my mother because my father was what I had hoped to be—he was a doctor, he helped people, he loved my mother so much. . .Even as a child I knew that I wanted to be that. I wanted to help people, I wanted to be successful, and I wanted a big family and a beautiful, loving wife.

"But I constantly sought his approval and I was let down by it. In some ways it was my fault, I was too hard on myself. If I did something great and he praised me for it, I would convince myself that I could have done better and I would belittle myself and what I achieved. Eventually it started to affect how I felt of my father's praise, when he gave suggestions to improve myself I took it as him not being proud. Tie that in with my wanting independence and I turned out to be pretty messed up.

"I fell in with the wrong people in my second semester of tenth grade. My father hated my friends and he never let me forget that, he lectured me often about what it would do to me and I resented him for that. It seemed that nothing I ever did was good enough for him because I had friends he didn't like, it wasn't even about what I achieved anymore or how I belittled myself. At that time, for him it didn't seem to matter that I was getting good grades and staying out of trouble. And for me, all I could focus on was how I'd never get his approval despite how hard I worked.

"I rebelled against him. I spent more time with my friends, I ended up with drugs in my possession, I started fighting with my parents for no good reason. I'd never taken any drugs, but I had them. I drank too, and we went to bonfires in La Push with all these older guys who would buy the drugs. It didn't seem to matter to them that they were buying it from a sophomore in high school and they were old enough to be college kids, drugs are drugs, right?" I look at Bella, she didn't seem at all phased by what I was saying. Of course she didn't, her father was a cop, she knew this stuff happened.

"My father found out that I had drugs and he threatened to pull me out of school and send me somewhere else. I left my house that night and I didn't return for several days, which angered my parents even more. They didn't know what to do with me. Anything they said I ignored, whenever they tried to punish me—grounding me, taking away my electronics, whatever it was—I found some way around it. I would leave the house at night, I would use my friend's phone or laptop or TV, there were always ways. I never got into any trouble at school and for the most part, my grades weren't suffering. It was just my resentment towards my parents that caused it all.

"I spent the entire summer rebelling and partying and then I got hooked on drugs. That's when everything got really messed up. I started failing my classes, getting into fights, I didn't even come home on a weekly basis throughout all of my junior year. I can't even tell you how many times I was suspended, grounded, or anything like that. My parents were furious—beyond furious. I totaled two cars that summer from driving while under influence. The first time my dad didn't involve the cops. My mom convinced him that I would turn a new leaf, and I did. But only for a few weeks before the cravings drove me mad. I couldn't control myself and I drank myself in a state that made be insane. I totaled another car and this time other people were involved in the wreck. My sister Alice had come to get me. She didn't realize I had taken drugs and I was too stupid to think of the consequences that could occur from driving with my sister in the passenger seat.

"I hit a tree. I got out just fine with a concussion, but my sister barely managed to survive. She ended up in a coma for a week. I knew that my parents would never forgive me for that."

"I'm sorry." Bella whispers. It was the first time she had spoken, or even moved. I had forgotten she was even here, that I was even telling her all of this. I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't even realize I was still driving. I had no idea where we were, but we were still on the highway speeding through the empty lanes.

I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Do you want to hear the rest?"

"No, but I think I need to." Bella tells me. "I need to know how you turned your life around, I think that's the most important part of the story."

I smile. "You remind me so much of Alice, you know. She believed in me to no end, not even when I almost killed her."

Bella is silent, so I continue with my story.

"I sat with Alice all day and night, I only ever left when my parents screamed at me to never show my face to them again. I decided that I needed to fix what I did. I managed to get somewhat clean for the sake of Alice. We had always been very close despite our age difference and she never judged me or hated me for what I did even thought she knew it was completely wrong, that's why she came to get me. She somehow believe I would figure things out. I let her down, I nearly killed her, and when she woke up she told my parents that I would be okay. That I would help myself and by helping myself I would help her. I'll never know if they were angry with her because she still thought of me or hopeful that she was right.

"I moved out of my parents' house, I stayed with a friend of mine who wasn't into drugs or anything. He knew what I did and he wanted me to make my life better and so he was my support. I stopped hanging out with my friends, I stopped drinking, I used my entire college fund to stop my addiction to drugs. I had relapses, as was expected, and it was a struggle but it was even worse because I was convinced that no one would forgive me. It was a struggle throughout my entire fall semester, but in the spring it had gotten much easier. I was completely clean and I used Alice as my goal: I was going to make things right for her. Even if my parents never forgave me, I knew that Alice had already forgiven me and she was so proud of what I was doing to help myself. I would make occasional visits to my house to beg my parents for forgiveness and to tell Alice I was doing better. Every time I asked my parents, my dad would tell me to go and my mother would never look at me. They hated how close I was to Alice and how she accepted me even after what I had done. And I am fairly certain they fully believed that I was still hanging out with my old friends, taking drugs, and drinking.

"At the end of the semester, I showed them my report card and I had graduated despite my terrible grades in tenth grade. I was so proud of myself, but my dad told me that it was a fake. I know that hurt my mom because she believed me and she was proud of me, but she also couldn't forgive me for almost killing her daughter.

"I got mad, and I left the house. I stole my dad's car and I went to a bar, got very drunk, and then I left to Seattle. I wanted a new life and I hated my parents more than anything. I crashed the car somewhere—I don't remember where—but I was fine, so I just started walking around and then I saw a man trying to assault a woman. I didn't even realize what I was doing, I started attacking him and then I had killed him. I pushed him and he slipped and hit his head on concrete stairs, he died right there.

"A man named Garrett witnessed what happened. He helped me get rid of the body and then he brought me back to his apartment. He told me I had skill and when I told him I ran away from home, he took it as an opportunity to enlist me. He didn't care that I had killed the man to help the woman, all that mattered to him was that I killed a man. I was seventeen years old, I ran away from home, I had just overcome a drug addiction, I was mostly drunk, I crashed a car, I had no job, no education aside from high school, and no place to live. His offer was the best. He gave me a place to live and taught me everything there was about his line of work.

"He was the one that killed the man while I watched. He was teaching me. I knew I wouldn't be able to kill anyone—it was savage, there was no worse thing to do. That's when I met Tanya and then it was her turn to teach me. I told her about my life and she told me about hers, she taught me how to get someone into hiding, how to find jobs, how to keep my accreditation high without actually killing anyone, and how to deal with the pain and left over addictions I had.

"I left Garrett's house a few months after I came to Seattle. Tanya and I had gotten a lot closer and I decided to move in with her. After about a year, when I was nineteen, I bought my own apartment. I relied on Tanya a ton still, but I was getting better about supporting myself. I had built up a small reputation for myself and I was getting jobs and making enough to get by.

"My parents never called me and I never bothered calling them. I went back to Port Angeles once to see my sister when she graduated middle school, but I only spoke with her a few minutes before I left. My dad glared at me until I left, he refused to speak with me and my mother was conflicted again. In some ways I resent her for that, I always feel like she can't think for herself. She is so blinded by trying to be motherly, by trying to protect her children, that she doesn't know whether to welcome back her screwed up child and forgive him or protect her other children. And she very much values what my father thinks and even though he would never make her do something and he would never make her hate someone—especially her own son—it does have an impact on her, which is understandable considering what they are to each other. It's been three years since then. I'm still in Garret's group of people he trained, but I work the way Tanya does. I saw my sister last Sunday and father, he still despises me. My sister loved me and wants me to come back to Port Angeles.

"I made a deal with her that I would see her this Sunday again. I hate that I'll be breaking that promise, but I'm trying to ensure that we do get to see each other again someday."

"You have been given more chances than many." Bella tells me finally.

"Didn't really register until a few days ago." I mutter. "I'm only doing this for Alice. It doesn't matter what has happened, only what will happen."  
Bella nods. "I'm sorry."

I shrug. "Thanks." Bella is quiet, she stares out the window even though there was nothing to be seen. "We'll stop soon to get some food and we've driven a good amount, I think. We can probably find some place to stop also."

She murmurs an 'okay' and then goes back to being silent.

I was certain she was thinking about everything I had told her, but somehow I wasn't able to focus on my own story. I was thinking about Bella. She didn't hate me, she felt sorry for me and she was happy—I think—that I turned my life around.

I get off the highway at the next exit and stop at the first convenience store that I see.

"Will we ever be able to go to an actual supermarket?" Bella asks me.

"Maybe, once everything cools down. You might have to die your hair and cut it so you're not recognizable."

"What?" Bella demands.

I grin. "I'm joking."

She glares at me, but I could see a small smile on her lips. "I'm not dying my hair."

"That's fair enough." I chuckle. "Want anything in particular?"

Bella shakes her head. I pull my hood over my head, going inside. I shop quickly, grabbing a bunch of muffins, chips, frozen pizzas, and some bananas. I pay, and the person checking me out thankfully didn't even look at me. Then I rushed back to the car.

Bella was playing around with the GPS when I got back.

"We're in Boise." she tells me. "And there is a motel about two miles from here, we can go there."

"Sure." Bella gets out of the car, and each of us grab our bags. It only took me a few minutes to hot wire our next car and we were off within ten minutes.

"How long will we stay here for?"  
"You don't do very well when you're anxious, huh?"  
"What?" Bella questions, looking at me confused.

I smile. "You get very restless and you need to know everything—it gives you a sense of control."

"I'm not a control freak."  
"No, you're not. But you don't like not knowing this." I respond, following the directions from the GPS. We arrived at the motel within ten minutes. It was potentially dangerous to legally get a room, so I found a car that had a key card in it, broke in, stole the key card, and helped Bella bring out things up to a room of our choosing.

Bella relaxed on the bed and I turned the TV on again.

"Thank you for telling me everything." Bella says after several moments of silence.

"No problem." I mutter. "Just don't go around blabbing it to everyone—I'd probably end up in jail."

"Yeah, you totaled three cars and stole a car. But do you honestly think I would tell everyone about your past and not mention what we've done in the last day? We've stolen how many cars, broken into a hotel, broken into a car, stole food, and become fugitives."

"No, I'm a fugitive." I correct laughing. "You were kidnapped."

"Hardly."

"You're right." I chuckle.

"Can you teach me how to use this?" Bella asks, fiddling around with her gun. "I'm beginning to think that I might have to use it."

I grab the gun from her sharply. "Well, to start, don't accidentally shoot me while you're playing with it."

Bella blushes. "Sorry,"

I sit down next go her, shaking my head. "It's a death weapon, you'd think you would be more careful with it."

Bella bites her lip, looking down and I could see her blush darkening. It was adorable.

"You load the bullet in like this," I say, demonstrating. "then you aim, and you pull the trigger." I drop the bullets out of the gun so Bella didn't accidentally shoot the loaded gun and hand it back to her. "I hope you don't ever need it."

"Why do you care so much?" Bella asks me. "You tell me that you're doing this all for Alice, but I'm not part of the deal. This is all about your sanity and your freedom to go back to Alice and to stop being an assassin, to make up your relationship with your family. Where do I fit in?"

I laugh quietly. "You fit in with me." I mutter, looking her in the eyes. They were chocolate colored and doe shaped, and they were wide and curious. They were more beautiful than in the picture. "I didn't kill you even though killing you would mean being able to go back to Alice because you can't ever kill a person you love."

Bella's body jerks to a rigid stance. "You what?"

"Believe me, it's not something I planned. It's not something I entirely want either."

I recognized a small look of disappointment cross Bella's face and I smile. She wanted me to like her. "It's a feeling you're acquainted with as well, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry?" Bella whispers, confused.

"You're disappointed. Why?"

She shrugs, not answering.

"C'mon Bella, I tell you my entire life's story and now I tell you I like you."

"You said love. There's a difference between love and like. Which is it?"  
"Tell me why you're disappointed."

"Don't you already know?" Bella demands, not in a hard way but a confused way.

"Yes, I believe so. I just want to you confirm it." Bella doesn't respond, she looks away from me biting her lip. "Bella," I murmur under my breath. I brush a lock of her hair away from her face so I could see her. "what's wrong?"

She looks at me and I could see tears forming in her eyes. "It wouldn't work, even if I did like you. How are you okay with this?"

"We'll figure it out if we need to."  
Bella takes a deep breath. I touch her cheek lightly with my finger tips, and then gently press a kiss to her lips.

"We'll figure it out." Bella agrees quietly once I'd pulled back.


	8. October 19

Chapter 7: Thursday October 19

Bella and I slept peacefully that night. I woke before she did sometime in the late afternoon. It was Thursday. I had been traveling with Bella for a day and a half now, though it had felt like several weeks. I let Bella sleep more when I woke up, and instead I went to take a shower.

After my shower, I ate half a muffin and turned the TV and my laptop on. There were no messages from Tanya, and so far the news had said nothing about Bella and I. Around three in the afternoon, Bella woke up as well. She awkwardly and anxiously danced around me as she showered and ate breakfast, and I knew that was due to our confessions the night before.

I mostly smirked at her awkwardness, but after a few hours I decided she needed to be less awkward and anxious.

"Bella," I say, her head snaps up quickly, looking at me. "There hasn't been anything on the news yet, so I think we might be safe to stay here for a few days."

"Alright."

"Tanya hasn't emailed me, so nothing terrible is happening right now which is good."  
"That's good." Bella nods. She was pacing around the room, and didn't stop despite me telling her things were alright.

"Come here Bella." I say, laughing slightly.

"Why?" I shake my head at her, getting up and walking towards her.

"Pacing will not do anything, I promise. I've had years to deal with anxiety and nervousness and stress, and I promise pacing doesn't help." Bella turns away from me, but I grab her hand, pulling her back. "And ignoring the only person you're with also doesn't help. Why are you trying to ignore what happened last night?"

Bella bites her lip, not meeting my gaze. "I'm not entirely sure what happened last night."

"Would you like for me to tell you?" I grin. "I taught you how to use your gun, I told you I loved you, and I kissed up, and you didn't necessarily tell me you liked me back, but you did agree to try to make things work."

"Why do you love me?" Bella questions with a sigh.

I smile, pulling Bella closer to me until we were practically chest to chest. "You're dedicated, dangerously unobservant, dangerously focused and terribly bad at multitasking. You're intelligent and clever and beautiful." I tell her quietly, my hand still holding onto hers. "You're quiet and nonjudgmental and quite able to forgive."

"That's just what you think, not what you know. It's only what you've gotten from watching me." Bella sighs.

"Then tell me, am I wrong?"

"No." Bella growls. "But it feels wrong. I don't know. You know so much about me and how I act and, I mean, I know things about you, but it's all been how you survive and what you _did_. Not what you do right now and who you are right now."

"Hmm, I can see how it's feeling wrong to you. We'll fix that."

"We will?" Bella asks surprised.

"Mhmm. You said you wanted to try to make this work—unless you're going against that now."

"No, no!" Bella says quickly, shaking her head.

I laugh. "Well, neither am I. So we'll fix it."

 _"_ _. . .In Twin Falls just last night. We've traced them to Boise, Idaho where they were seen getting gas and buying food from a convenience store. An anonymous call was made from Seattle with the location of a stolen car they abandoned early this morning. The caller claimed that the sister of Edward Cullen—a kidnapper and serial killer—had been in contact with him until late last night."_

"Alice." I whisper, no longer paying any attention to Bella.

"Wait. . ." Bella gasps. "Is. . .But you and I—we never talked to her!"

I couldn't even answer Bella, instead I was grabbing all of our things and stuffing them back into the suitcases.

Bella doesn't even ask me why, she follows my lead. I didn't care that it was just past lunch time and that we would be in full view of everyone, we needed to be back in Seattle now! Hot wiring a car would take too much time and we were just off of a main road. If someone spotted either Bella or me, the cops would be here within minutes so Bella and I just took the car we used to get here.

Bella didn't speak and I didn't attempt to make any conversation with her, I just allowed the GPS to give me directions to go home.

After about two hours of driving, Bella and I stopped to change cars and then we got back on the road.

"What are we doing?" Bella asks me. We had been driving for two and a half hours now and the sun was beginning to set. So far, there had been no trouble of people seeing us, cops on the road, or needing to stop for gas.

"We're going back to Seattle. Jane is getting my sister involved." I respond, glaring at the road. "If she touches Alice, I swear I'll kill her."

Bella doesn't respond. "You're getting anxious now." she says after a few moments. I laugh darkly. She was right. I was gripping the steering wheel to the point where my knuckles were white and was unable to stop fidgeting.

"What stops you from being anxious?" Bella questions.

"Distractions."

"Alright. We're going to fix our relationship, right now." Bella tells me, smiling.

"How do you propose we do that?" I ask, my tone was a little harsh but also curious, and I think Bella would forgive me for being rude right now.

"I'm not entirely sure."  
"Have you ever dated someone before?" I ask her.

"We're dating?" Bella questions. "And no, I've never been very popular."  
"I disagree." I chuckle. "Apparently all the guys at your high school had crushes on you, and the girls were very jealous."

"How do you know that?" Bella asks shocked.

"Some girl I talked to when I was trying to figure out who you were and where you were." I respond, grinning. "She did not like you at all."

"That's why I left." Bella shakes her head. "Not many people did like me. I suppose it is a small town and they aren't very accepting."

"Yeah." I sigh. Then I smile, turning to Bella. "So, you've never had a boyfriend?'

Bella blushes, looking down so her hair fell over her face. "No."

"Interesting."

"Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"No."

"Really?" Bella demands, shocked.

"Really. My parents always thought I was secretly dating a girl and that she was one of the terrible influences I'd had, but—again with the rebellion—because they thought I did, I refused to get a girlfriend."

"Will they hate me?"

"You'll only come into the picture with my parents if they ever forgive me." I tell her sadly. "But I'm sure my mother would have loved you. Alice would too, but Alice is also very accepting. She likes everyone."

"Do you think they'll ever forgive you?" Bella asks me.

I shake my head. "It's been so many years already, Bella. Now I've gotten my sister involved with this. I don't think my parents will ever forgive me."

"I'm sorry."  
"I care for much for my parents, but if they refuse to forgive me then I'm not going to waste my time with that. Alice matters more than two people who were not and are not able to look past the bad I've done despite others who were involved forgiving me."

Bella nods.

"What's your major?" I ask Bella after a few moments.

"English literature."  
"What interested you about that?" I ask her. I was following Bella's directions now, I was distracting myself. We wouldn't be in Seattle for another five hours, assuming we got through traffic in a decent amount of time and by then it would have been about eight hours since the broadcast mentioned Alice.

"I love reading." Bella tells me. "What would your major have been if you did go to college?"  
"I wanted to be a doctor, but that was before I started to hate my father. Now, I have no idea. I've never really paid much attention to my interests."  
"Why?"

"I focus all my energy into work, into distracting myself from the sad reality that is my life. If I didn't, the amount of remorse and desire I have would be detrimental."

"Oh."

"But, if I could chose now, I would find some medical program that could get me through school in a decent amount of time. Maybe I'd do a PA program, it's just one step below a doctor."

"That would be amazing." Bella says.

"Maybe one day." I tell her. "But it's not something I can think about right now."

Bella and I chat for several more hours, but then Bella drifts off to sleep for the remainder of the trip. I didn't blame her, the only thing keeping me going at this point was adrenaline and fear for Alice. After about three more hours into the drive—we were not two hours from Seattle—Bella and I switch cars for the second time, opting with a faster and dark car.

We were, thankfully, going against traffic so we didn't end up in rush hour. Bella and I hardly spoke once she had woken up again, right before we switched cars. I didn't blame her. The atmosphere was tense with anxiety and fear and worry for Alice, ourselves, and Tanya.

I knew I needed to call her, but I wasn't entirely sure what to say and I certainly didn't want to talk to her while Bella was in the car. Bella was feeding off of my anxiety, if I got worse Bella would to and at this point, there was no calming either of us down.

Eventually, we stopped to take a quick rest and to buy some food. While Bella was in the bathroom, I grabbed a disposable phone, dialing in Tanya's number.

"Hello?" Tanya's voice was scarred by the static from bad reception, but it was still her voice.

"Tanya." I gasp, relieved.

"Oh Edward!" Tanya gasps. "Please tell me you are on coming back to Seattle. I've been trying to figure things out and check on your sister—I'm in Port Angeles right now! All I've gotten from people is that she was in school today and she has cheerleading practice after. I'm assuming your parents aren't at all worried since she isn't expected to get home until late today."

"Find her, Tanya! Pull her out of whatever activity she is in. I'll be in Seattle in two hours, just bring her to me, alright?"

"We can't draw attention to you. I'll get her and keep her safe, okay? You keep Bella and yourself safe. I'll meet you tonight, at midnight."

"Where?"  
"The tracks."

I nod, even though Tanya couldn't see. "Okay. I'll see you tonight."

"She'll be fine, we'll all be fine." Tanya reassures me and then the phone clicks dead. I toss the phone onto the floor, stamping on it until it lay in a pile of pieces and then climb back into the car. I could see Bella coming from the building and running to the car.

We would be in Seattle in two hours, and we would have two hours until I needed to meet Tanya. Everything would be okay.

I tell Bella about my plans once we start driving again. We would go to Tanya's house and put all of our things there and then—for my fear of danger coming to Bella if I left her alone—we would go together to meet Tanya at the tracks. Tanya was taking care of Alice right now, and I had no doubt that she would succeed in ensuring Alice remained safe.

"What are we going to do now? Jane got to Alice, she can get to my dad or to my mom or Phil." Bella tells me, panic covering her tone.

"We'll have to kill her."

"What?" Bella whispers.

"It her or us and everyone we love, Bella." I remind her. "I'm not favoring the latter."

"Neither am I." Bella agrees.

We don't talk for the rest of the way, though I'm sure it would have made the time pass a bit faster. Instead, I remind myself over and over again that I have to keep my promise to Alice. I will survive this and Alice will survive this so that we could see each other on Sunday. It was just a mere two days away.

I was sure that Bella was also deep in her thoughts. She never took her gaze away from the window and a few times I thought I saw her wipe tears away from her face. I wanted to comfort her, but there wasn't anything I could say without it being a flat out lie. I couldn't lie to Bella, I couldn't even pretend things would be alright for myself.

Finally, after what felt like too long, we made it to Seattle. Bella and I were both anxious and stressed, and getting to Tanya's house helped none. Now, we both had space to pace around and pull at our hair.

I took a long shower, but that helped none and attempted to get myself to eat—another fail. Bella did the same, and eventually she retired to the couch to try to sleep. But after a half hour, she was up pacing again with me. At 11:20 I decided we'd had enough.

I gathered my gun in my hand, handed Bella her gun, and we left for the tracks forty minutes early. The walk to the tracks from Tanya's house is only ten minutes—it was the same place that all the assassin's hang out, but the tracks—as Tanya and I called it—was the section where we first got to know each other. The tracks were a good five minutes from where Garrett's group hung out, this place was darker from the lack of street lights, quieter, and occasionally a train would actually plow through these tracks.

When Bella and I arrived, we were surprised to find Tanya already there.

She runs to me, hugging me tightly. "I'm sorry, Edward. I couldn't find her."

"What?" I gasp, stumbling under the surprise of Tanya's weight.

She steps back, shaking her head and I see in the dim light that she was crying. "I looked everywhere and one of her friends said she already went home but when I went there the cops were all over the place. She wasn't there either, so I spent the next several hours looking for her. Jane's got her."

"No, no, no." I say, running my hands through my hair angrily. "No! Where is Jane?" I yell, kicking at the gravel.

"There were rumors that she is here. _Now_!" Tanya tells me. "We just have to find her, and I'll let myself die before Alice does. We can get Garrett, he'll do this for you."

I nod. "Let's go."

I follow Tanya, and Bella follows me. The three of us walk silently through the dark, Bella constantly tripping over the gravel, but Tanya and I walking quietly. Garrett was with Peter, Eleazar, Bree, and Riley.

"Edward." Garrett gasps. Everyone's eyes were on me, then on Bella and I knew they were shocked at the site.

"Is Jane here?" I ask Garrett.

"Yes, and she is summoning your presence." a voice says, we all turn and a black figure emerges into the light. I didn't know the girl, but she had a small build, a look of hunger in her eyes, and a smirk on her lips.

"Heidi, how nice of you to join us." Peter grins. "I see you've become well acquainted with our favorite Jane."

"Mhmm," she grins happily. "and she wants Edward." Heidi's eyes fall on each of us—she was counting how many—and then they fall on Bella. Bella, the one Jane wanted dead. Bella, the one who everyone could tell wasn't one of us by the fear on her face, her awkward hands wrapped around her gun that was pointed in a terrible direction, and her insecure posture. "And this would be Isabella Swan, the one who was stupid enough to get on Jane's hitlist."  
"I'll take care of her." I snap at Heidi. "And I'll follow you after I do."  
"No, I think Jane wants to take care of Isabella herself. After all, you were unable to, Edward. And here we all thought you were the best of the best. Better than even Jane's guard."

I could hear Bella's sharp breaths and then her cold hands wrapping around my arm.

I nod sharply to Heidi, and she turns to leave with a giggle.

"I hate her." Tanya hisses.

"We support you, Edward." Eleazar tells me. It was a little ironic that Garrett sought out the most troubled teens for his gang and he ended up with the most loyal, moral-driven ones instead. I nod in acknowledgment toward Eleazar, and then towards Bree who also stood up besides Eleazar.

"Tanya, stand in front of Bella, please." Tanya nods, positioning herself to my right so that we both covered Bella. Eleazar and Bree didn't even need to be told anything, they just followed behind us as we walked.

"Edward," Bella whispers.

"Shh," I whisper back. "Just stay quiet. Tanya will take you if chaos ensues."

"Yes, I will." Tanya tells Bella. "I'll keep you safe, I swear by my life."

"You guys do a lot of swearing by lives here." Bella mutters.

Despite the terrible situation, I laugh. "Lives mean a lot to us because we take it so often. Just so, our loyalties mean our lives to us."  
We walk to the main tracks. It was a courtyard with tall abandoned buildings on all sides. There were always people everyone—on the tracks, around the tracks, in all levels of the buildings. This was the main place where everyone hung out, and right now it was packed full of people and loud. I knew Jane and her people would be in the center of the square, and that's where we walked to.

Right in the center, as expected, was Jane, several body guards, Heidi and others who stood in high ranks according to Jane, and my little sister.

I almost broke into a run to grab her, but Tanya fastened her hand onto my arm, sharply cutting into my skin with her nails.

"Patience, Edward. Be smart." Tanya urges me. When I nod in response to her, she releases my arm. Alice was hidden behind two guards, her panicked eyes locked on mine.

"Hello Jane." Tanya greets. "How nice of you to join us. We were getting a little too good over here, it's wonderful to have another dose of evil by you."

Tanya was asking for death. She was mocking Jane. Though, I didn't see how it mattered much, we were all as good as dead right now.

"You must be a friend of Edward's." Jane says, smiling sweetly. "Edward, I thought I told you to kill the girl, not protect her and take her on a cross-country road trip."

"I'm spontaneous." I respond darkly. "The road-trip seemed better than delivering her body to the world."

"You're losing your touch." Jane sighs. "It's unfortunate—you had potential."

"Indeed, it's very unfortunate." I remark.

"You've failed." Jane tells me. "And I'm too kind to let you pay for it."

"No." I whisper, looking at Tanya. Tanya returned my gaze with the same panicked eyes that I had, and we both took off running. Tanya, who had grabbed Bella, was now headed towards the tracks and I was going straight for Alice. My gun was out, and within a second I heard a gun shot. But it wasn't from mine, I wasn't sure whose gun it was from. All I know was the Alice's body collapsed in a bloody mess on the gravel and her bright green eyes were closed. I kneel down beside her, my gun dropping besides me and my hands at her stomach trying to contain the bleeding.

"Let that be a lesson to anyone who defies me." Jane yells so the crowds could hear. "Now find me that girl—I want her dead by the morning."

Jane left me, her guards left me, they all left me to attempt to revive my fallen sister. I took advantage of that, thinking through the adrenaline that was pumping through my system, and picked Alice up. I ran out of the tracks, knowing full well that there was a hospital just four blocks down. I would be there faster than the ambulance could be here, grab Alice, and return to the hospital with her.

I didn't get tired, despite having to carry Alice's unconscious body. That only urged me forward and somehow I got to the hospital in much less time than I had expected. Or maybe, the time was just passing slower from the anxiety and everything felt like eternity. I didn't know, or care. I burst into the hospital, and then everything was in slow motion.

Alice was ripped from my arms and I was shoved to the side while a collection of trained employees crowded around her. They were talking and yelling and doing things to Alice, and I just watched. There was nothing for me to do anymore. There was no protecting Bella anymore, no protecting Alice. Not even myself. I was free now, Jane had spared me by taking Alice, so I didn't have to even protect myself.

When the wheeled Alice away yelling things about surgery and alerting doctors, I was distinctly aware of another nurse suggesting I clean myself up and wait for Alice to get out of surgery in the waiting room. I followed her orders, though a numb feeling we spreading through me and I wasn't entirely aware of what I was doing. Everything was dimmer, and everything sounded as if I was underwater—it was muted and muffled and screwed up.

I waited in the waiting room as the nurse suggested. I counted the hours, because everything was muted, even time. Hours only existed, not minutes or seconds. I paced the length of the hospital room, waiting. All I needed to know was the Alice would be okay. Then I would go find Jane, kill her, and return to Alice. I had set my mind to it. That was what I would do. Jane would die today.

I paced for three and a half hours, sat for one hour, and attempted to get some rest before I set out to kill Jane for another hour. In total, I was waiting for five and a half hours. I was prepared to throw a fit and threaten someone about Alice's condition right before a doctor entered the waiting room. He walked straight to me, sitting down next to me on the chair.

"Who are you in relation to the girl you brought in?"

"I'm her older brother." I tell him.

"She was shot pretty badly." the doctor tells me. "The surgery went well, she is in recovery now. We can only allow you a few minutes to see her at the moment."

I stand and the doctor leads me to Alice. It was like the accident years ago. Alice was practically dead, and I suddenly remembered my parents.

Not only had I gotten Alice involved, again, but I'd nearly killed her. Again! I simply stroked Alice's pale cheek, pressing my lips firmly to her forehead, and then I uttered an apology in her ear before striding out of the room.

Jane was dead.

I was exhausted. I had been awake for sixteen hours, driven for seven hours, and I'd walked a good portion—and paced—of those hours. But I was still full of adrenaline and now a purpose. I wasn't the victim anymore, I wasn't the one afraid, I was the one in control. Jane was the victim and she needed to be very afraid.

I ran back to the tracks knowing that Jane would still be there. She would have sent her minions off to find Bella and bring her back to the tracks for it would be a public execution. Instead of going from the main pathway, I went onto the side and journeyed to the third floor of one of the abandoned buildings. From here, it was easy to spot Jane's guard and she was between them.

It would be too easy to shoot her right here, so I aimed at one guard. With a deafening blast, he was dead beside her with a bullet to his head, and the other guard followed within a minute. Then I was up, running down the stairs and outside into the shadows. I was absolutely certain that they would figure out where the shots would come from, which was why I had to move quickly. Now that Jane's main guards were down and the others were finding their shooter, Jane would be alone.

I walk through the main path now and find Jane scurrying to grab her gun. She points it straight at me knowing I was the one who did this.

"It's an unfair fight, Jane."

"Where is she?" Jane demands. "The girl."

"The one you shot or the one on your death list?" I yell. "They are both innocent!"

"Yes, perhaps. But they send a message."

"What did Bella ever do to you?" I hiss.

"It was her father, Edward." Jane tells me, smirking. "You missed that entire fact. You focused for search so much, you didn't realize that he had killed two of my very close friends."  
"You mean your minions?" I demand. "You'll kill Bella for that? They were stupid enough to get caught in the first place."

"Have you come here to kill me?" Jane snaps. "Let's get on with it then. Whoever has the best aim?"

"That's an unfair fight, Jane. I'm so much more skilled than you."

Jane laughs darkly. She was pathetic, she knew she was dead. How did someone so helpless get so much power? "No, never."  
"Then how do we settle this fairly?" I question.

"Like always." Tanya steps out from the crowd. "Not by skill, by chance."  
Tanya pulls her gun out, releasing all of the bullets. She takes a gun from one of the dead guards, releasing all of the bullets again. Then, she places one bullet in each gun, and hands the guard's gun to Jane and her gun to me.

"By the flip of a coin." Tanya digs around in the gravel for a few moments, finally producing a penny. She tosses it into the air, catching it on her left hand and places her right hand over it. "Heads, Jane loses her head. Tails, Jane shoots."

Jane and I both nod. Tanya peeks at the coin and I know I've won the toss.

She looks at me expectantly, and I can see the fear cross Jane's eyes just before the violent jerk of her body sends her to the ground. Besides her fallen guards, her eyes go blank and her face goes pale.

"Bella?" I ask Tanya, dropping my gun.

"Safe. And Alice?"

"Alive." Tanya smiles, dropping the coin onto the floor without allowing anyone to see the results of the toss. Now no one could argue that Jane was killed unjustly, they had no proof that Tanya was a cheater.

"I'm going to go back to the hospital." I tell Tanya.

She nods, smiling. "You're done, Edward. You're out."

"What?" I ask, confused by her happiness.

"Jane is dead, Alice is alive, Bella is safe, you're alive, I'm alive. No one is after us, you have nothing holding you here. You don't have to do this anymore. You can go home, make up with your family, you can be free from this. Live your life the way it was supposed to be lived, with Bella and Alice." Tanya was excited now, she was biting her lip to contain her smile.

And now that I understood, I was smiling myself. "Send Bella to the hospital when you get the chance, alright? I'm not leaving Alice's side, and I need Bella with me."

Tanya nods quickly and I wrap my arm tightly around her.

"Thank you, Tanya, for risking everything for this mess I created."  
"No problem, Edward." Tanya tells me. "But never again, alright?"

I laugh, nodding. I release Tanya, turning to go back to the hospital. I was peaceful now on my walk back. The sun was beginning to rise and the cool night was slowly getting warmer. Tanya was right. I had Bella, I had my life, Tanya had hers, Alice was expected to be better, and the only problem I currently faced was my parents—which was an entirely new battle that would be faced later.


	9. October 20

Chapter 8: Friday, October 20th

The sun was bright and hot when they finally allowed me to see Alice again. I was sure they had already called our parents, but I tried not to think about what that would mean for me.

Alice was awake and looked a thousand times better than she had when she was unconscious, her face was less pale and this time her eyes were bright and excited to see me.

I drop down on the bed next to her. "I'm sorry."

She smiles. "I get to see you two days early!"

"In bed, half dead." I point out.

She shrugs, then winces. "What happened?"

"Jane shot you." I mutter.

"Jane is?" Alice asks. She was too awake and happy to have just been shot a few hours ago. In fact, she looked way too well to have just been shot.

"A criminal. It's hard to explain. I killed her."  
"You what?" Alice demands.

"It was very much needed." I say to Alice, calming her down. "She was a criminal, she shot you, and she was trying to kill Bella."  
"Bella?" Alice mutters, then her eyes widen and panic crosses them. "Jane was Isabella's friend, Isabella was the person you were looking for! You kidnapped her, at least that's what the news said. And Jane shot me, and you killed Jane. Edward, what the hell is going on?"

Suddenly, a nurse bursts into the room. "What's going on in here?" she demands, coming straight to Alice's side and fiddling with the monitors. Alice's heart sounded like it had just been endured to a marathon and her pale face was red with anger and stress.

"Family drama." I explain smoothly to the nurse.

"Don't stress her out." the nurse scolds me, she turns to Alice. "Relax sweetie, you aren't going to get any better stressing about the entire world."

Alice nods. "I'll be fine."  
"Do you need some down time?" the nurse asks.

Alice shakes her head, and the nurse leaves quietly.

"I was supposed to find Bella and kill her, but she was innocent so I couldn't. I knew Jane would kill Bella if I didn't so Bella and I left Washington and we were going to drop off the grid, but then Jane had you so we came back. Jane shot you, my friend took Bella and hid her, and I killed Jane." I explain. Alice stares at me like I spoke another language.

"What have you been doing, Edward?" Alice questions. She wasn't judging, she was shocked and confused.

"I was being stupid." I tell her quietly. "It's over now, I'm leaving Seattle."

"Where are you going?" Alice begs.

"Port Angeles, or Forks, or even La Push. I don't know. Somewhere close to you."  
Alice smiles, but then she frowns. "Mom and Dad can't know that Jane did this. Let's just say someone shot me on the street when I came up here to see a friend, alright?"

"I can't let you take the blame for it, Alice."

"I'm not taking the blame, and neither are you!" Alice tells me. "If they find out you did this, they'll kill you on the spot! Or have you arrested. Edward, they can't know. You need to come home, and in order for that to happen you guys need to figure this out."

I shake my head. "Alice, now isn't the time for you to play this referee. You could have died."  
"Yes, I am well aware of that, Edward." Alice snaps. "And I'm asking you to move past that for the sake of our family."

"We'll see." I mutter.

"Edward." Alice grabs my hand, pleading with me. "Please, just do this for me."

"How is it that when Alice ends up in the hospital, you are the _first_ one here? _Again_!"

Alice and I turn. In the door, our father stood, his angry eyes locked on my face.

"I live in Seattle, remember?" I snap in response. "It was fitting they call the person who is closest first."

"Edward." Alice mutters. Then she speaks up, looking at Dad. "Dad, I'll be alright. I told them to call Edward first—he was closer and he is legally an adult so he could help sort things out for when you and Mom got here."  
"Outside, now." he seethes.

Alice squeezes my hand, pleading with her eyes again before releasing me. I follow my father into the hallway. He was radiating anger and hatred for me. This man would never forgive me.

"What happened?" He demands, refusing to meet my gaze.

I don't answer at first. How could I? A million thoughts were running through my mind—do I take the blame, or do I let Alice help me lie my way through this? If I took responsibility, I would never even be considered for forgiveness. But I would also have to live with guilt of being wrongfully forgiven.

"Well?" He demands, turning to face me now.

"Alice came to visit me." I tell him. "On her way over, someone attacked her. I shot the person to defend both Alice and myself."

There. That solves the problem of Jane's body and why Alice was even in Seattle, and it makes me partly responsible but I also provided a solution.

"Edward!" Bella came running down the hallway, collapsing into my arms. "I was so worried! Where is Alice, is she alright?"

My father stared at Bella and I could tell from the look on his face that he understood who she was from the news. At the same moment, Bella realized I wasn't alone and blushed madly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

"We are done talking." my dad's tone was unusually rude to be directed toward a stranger. "You and Edward will stay away from my daughter. I will not waste my time explaining how breaking laws work and their consequences. I don't know what nonsense you've gotten yourself into, but consider Alice no longer a part of it. " he was speaking to both of us, but then he turned to me. "I'm not an idiot, Edward. And you are not my son. Never, ever go near Alice again or I swear I'll have you arrested if you aren't in custody by then."

Then he turns and walks away.

"Bella," I mutter. "meet my father."  
"Maybe you should speak to your mom." Bella suggests quietly. Though we both knew it would be beyond useless.

I sigh, walking over to a bench and collapsing onto it. "At least Alice is fine."  
Bella nods. "You will be also."

I chuckle darkly. "Perhaps." And as if the world hadn't gone to hell yet, two police men were walking down the hall toward Bella and I with their eyes fixed on me and their hands on their guns. "Or not. Guess I'm going to jail."  
Bella's eyes widen, and she sees the cops walking. "My father's the chief in Forks, Edward. I'll get him to spring you, okay?"

"He'll spring the kidnapper of his daughter?"

"I'll tell him everything! You saved me." Bella's voice was getting desperate and anxious now that the cops were just a few meters away.

"Don't incriminate me more." I tell her, then I stand up, going to the cops. "I'll go quietly, don't make it a big scene. And I'll explain it, I didn't kidnap her, she came willingly."

"Yeah, sure." one of them tells me. "Do you need to know your rights?"  
"Nope, I've got them memorized." I respond. The cop nods, grabbing my arms and handcuffing me. Then, they lead me out of the hospital to the car. "I'll hire my own lawyer also."

"Whatever you want, kid." the cop tells me.

The drive was short and quiet, maybe even a little tense. But I wasn't tense. I wasn't even anxious or worried, in fact I was too relaxed. So relaxed that I was scaring myself into thinking I really had gone insane. Or maybe this was just me being rational—after all, I did steal eight cars in my entire life, total three cars, involve a minor in an accident due to driving under influence, kill five people, cause Alice's almost-death twice, steal, breaking-and-entry, among countless other things. This was finally my punishment.

I didn't give the cops a hard time, and I think they were relieved at that. Within in hour, I was in a interrogation room, still handcuffed, but also alone—or at least I figured I was alone, I didn't know who was behind the invisible window or how many cameras were watching me. But I also didn't care. Instead, I got comfortable with my feet on the table and my head back with my eyes closed.

Might as well make the best of the situation. It could have been a lot worse.

About an hour later, I was stiff and numb from not moving, but the door opened and a cop walked in.

"I'll tell you whatever you want, no need for scare tactics or threats or whatever." I tell him.

"I don't know what's going on in that head of yours or what actually happened. A Chief Charles Swan from Forks, Washington called. He said not to do anything or say anything to you until he arrived. I'm almost a little worried about you, that you might get shot by him. Didn't you take his daughter?"

"His daughter who voluntarily came with me so I could protect her?" I question. Why was my voice so light and mocking? "Then yes, that would be the daughter of his that I took."

"Hmm." he smiles slightly. "I'm putting you in a holding cell until the Chief gets here."

I nod, and the cop takes me to the cell—which was thankfully empty—and leaves me in it. Now that I actually had a cot, I laid down, closing my eyes, and pretended to sleep. But now that I felt more alone, I could think about my confrontation with my father. I was no longer his son. Alice was no longer my sister and I was never allowed to see her again.

I saved his daughter, I fed him a lie about how I protected her, I committed murder for her. And he still found it within him to tell me to fuck off. Was he incapable of forgiveness?

This man, who was the epitome of forgiveness and being kind, officially condemned his son to live without a family. I'd always looked up to him until our entire fall out, but I never stopped loving him and I was always able to get over my anger. Now, when he had refused to forgive me after five years and he cast me out of his family, I was still unable to force myself to hate him. It was always clear to me that there were things I would redo about the past, and I figured my parents had some regrets about how they handled my rebellion. But it seemed that none of those regrets tormented my father, at least today he seemed to be content without my presence and almost filled with glee to get rid of me.

I laid there for hours until I fell into a light sleep with constant moments of consciousness. It must have been several hours before someone approached the cell—it was the same cop. I stood, waiting for him to say or do something.

"You confuse me kid."  
"I'm not guilty of much." I respond. "No reason for me to act like a criminal and conform to your standards."  
"My standards?" he chuckles. "What are you guilty of?"

"I have a right to not self-incriminate, remember?" I point out. I still had the stupid mocking tone, but I couldn't get rid of it. It was almost like I enjoyed teasing these cops, and this one didn't seem particularly annoyed by it. He simply smiled and nodded.

"Chief is here, want to relocate or just talk through the bars?"  
"If I promise to be civilized—which I have been so far—can we just talk in an office of some time? It would feel much better, I don't really enjoy being treated like a criminal."  
The cop makes a face at me—maybe something like a grimace, but then he shrugs. "I'll talk to some people, see what they say."

"Thank you." the cop walks away with a grunt of acknowledgment.

Within minutes he was back, "I don't know what's going on inside either of your minds kid," he opens the door of the cell, shaking his head. "everything about this situation is weird."

"I'm assuming I'm allowed to meet with the chief privately?"

"Yup, and his daughter will be there as well. How odd." the cop says, leading me to the room. It was a small conference room, Bella and her father were always there. The cop lets me enter, then he closes the door as he leaves.

"How are you?" Bella asks me, coming immediately to my side.

I offer her a small smile. "Just thinking about Alice."

"She's fine, I made sure." Bella tells me. Then she whispers, "I didn't tell him much, he is furious, but he is willing to listen."

"Thanks Bella." I murmur back to her. I don't dare touch her in front of her father, especially because he only knew me as a criminal. "Hello sir."

He nods at me. "Have a seat." I do, and both he and Bella sit down across the table from me. "You have a ton of explaining to do."

"I know."

"Good. I'm also glad you haven't given anyone a hard time yet. Will that be ending soon?"

"No sir."

Chief Swan nods his head approvingly. "Well, let's begin with you telling me exactly why I was told you kidnapped my daughter."

"It's a bit more than that, actually." I explain to him. "I'm—well. . ." I pause, trying to find the right words. "I didn't kidnap her, to start. She actually came with me willingly. The deal was for me to protect her and we both had to drop off the radar for that to happen. Only, it didn't quite work because my sister ended up getting hurt and it was mutually decided that we needed to come back. Bella was still going to be protected, my friend was going to protect her, and I needed to be with Alice. It obviously looked like I kidnapped her, and we—actually, I—intended for that."

"It's a similar story that I got from Bella. You see, I know criminals and I know they sometimes threaten their victims." Chief tells me suspiciously.

I nod. "I was hired by Jane Volturi to kill Bella. I didn't know why, not until yesterday. You apparently killed one of her henchmen and she wanted revenge. I didn't kill Bella—clearly—but the problem is if I didn't kill her, someone else would kill her and me. So the only solution we saw was to disappear so no one would kill us."

"You were hired?" Chief repeats.

I nod again. "I'm something like an assassin. I work for criminals to kill people except I don't kill them, I just pay them to go into hiding. I swear, I can prove it all—every word."

"I know Jane Volturi—she's never been caught. She is sly."

"I killed her early this morning." I tell him. "There are about a hundred witnesses, and I have no idea where her body is—if they moved it or not even."

"You killed her?!" The chief demands.

"It was self-defense. She pulled her gun on me first." I explain. "Although, I did go there with intentions to hurt her to prevent her from killing Bella, myself, and my sister."

"Is there anything else you want to lie about?"

"I'm not lying sir."

"I'm sure. We'll check your story out and get back to you." the chief stands, but I do as well. "Sit down, Cullen."

"Sir, if I wanted to kill Bella I would have long ago. I'm cooperating right now because I know I have broken laws but I have done them in the intention to help people."

"And working for criminals? That's to help people?"

"I left that behind when I decided to protect Bella. I'm done with all of that, and I'll give you whatever information you want in return for less jail time. Trust me, I have a lot."

"Sit down." Chief Swan repeats and this time I comply.

"Dad," Bella starts.

"Not now, Isabella. Don't forget you are in just as much trouble as him right now—you've assisted in countless thefts, breaking-ins, and whatever else I don't know of."

Then, without another word, he leaves.

Bella smiles at me. "He believes you, you know." she says smugly. "Or else he wouldn't have left me in here with you."  
"I think he's still a little angry."  
"It takes him awhile to process stuff." Bella laughs. "You'll be fine, Edward."

"I hope so."

Bella gets up from her chair, coming around the table to sit next to me. "So I've been thinking about everything and I realized that if you do get out of all of this, you'll have a lot more free time—especially with Jane out of the picture."

"Hmm," I smile, laughing a little. "what do you suppose I do?"

"How would you feel about applying to college?" Bella wonders. "You can attend Seattle University with me."  
"And what if your father decides to put me in jail for dating his daughter. He has all the grounds to do that."

"Well," Bella shrugs, indifferent to my statement. "he'll have to put me in jail as well. We did commit the same crimes."

"That's quite true." I lean back in my chair, grabbing Bella's hand in mine. "You've been thinking about us?"

Bella blushes and averts her gaze from my face. "It was a pretty silent car ride from Forks to here. And like I said, I'm willing to make things work."

"That's good." I tell her, kissing her hand. "Just so you know, when we tell your father that you're dating a reformed criminal, you're standing in front of me so he doesn't shoot."

Bella laughs. "Deal."

We sit in silence for several moments. It's was very entertaining, actually. I was rubbing my fingers rubbing at the soft skin on her hand, and she would blush every time she caught me staring and there was this smile that spread across my face upon seeing her blush. Anyone watching us would think we were either crazy or madly in love—the latter making us seem crazy again considering we hadn't even known each other a week. It wasn't the time, though, it was the experiences and Bella and I had surely experienced more than the average couple in love.

Finally, Bella's father returned. I sat up, and Bella pulled my hand from mine and placed them properly on her lap, looking too stiff.

He sits down, dropping a file onto the table. "Your story checks out, somehow. It's insane, but there was barely enough evidence to consider it true. We had to place some calls as well, to a Tanya Denali. Who is she in relation to you?"

"My best friend, I've known her for four years. She taught me how to make people disappear and how to do it myself."  
"What information do you have?" Chief Swan asks me.

"Before I get to that, I want to propose my end of the deal. If the information I give you is substantial, everything Bella has done will be forgotten—not even a speck on her record. Tanya, as well. She doesn't deserve the things that have happened to her, I want her record to be clean."

"I imagine you want some things for yourself."  
"To not go to jail, preferably. And I wouldn't mind this not being on my record either."

"Consider it done." Chief Swan tells me. I look at Bella, shocked, she looked just as shocked. I was absolutely sure that bargaining was harder than this, but I didn't question the chief when he was giving me what I wanted.

"What information do you want?"

"Names, locations, how you know them, crimes they've committed, the list goes on."

"We hang out by the tracks in downtown. It's dark, isolated, and the cops don't dare go there because they are so outnumbered. There are abandoned buildings surrounding it and only a few paths to get into the main area—the cops don't know that because they've never staked the place. If you cover those exits and the buildings, no one can get out." I tell him.

He nods, writing what I say down.

"Most of the crimes they commit aren't in the Seattle area. Jane Volturi used to manage everyone associated with the tracks, now that she is dead I assume someone else will take that position."

"You said you killed her?"

I nod.

"Taking someone's life is a serious offense."

"Considering I saved many other lives, can we pretend that I did it out of defense?"

"Did you not?"

I shake my head. "She shot Alice, I took Alice to the hospital and returned to the tracks a few hours later when I knew Alice would be fine. There is a game we play, but I cheated so I won and I shot her. I did it as revenge for what she did to Alice and with full knowledge that as long as she is alive neither Bella or I would be safe."

Chief nods, writing that down as well.

We continue speaking for several hours, well into the evening. I tell him everything I told Bella, give him all the names and information I can remember, and I answer whatever questions he asked me. I think he was mostly relieved that I was cooperating, and I was mostly relieved for his cooperation with my demands.

When it was finally over, he shook my hand and promised to be in touch. As long as I stayed out of trouble now, my record would be clean, as would Bella's and Tanya's.

After we finished, Bella and I exchanged a quick good bye and I left the station. We'd talk to her father later.

I took a cab to my apartment, took a quick shower, ate some dinner, and then grabbed my car and returned to the hospital. Mom would be there without a doubt, and possibly Emmett depending on if he was able to get a flight in time. If he did, maybe Rosalie and their son would be here as well.

For now, all I needed to do was talk to Mom. Maybe if she forgave me, Dad would somehow feel slightly more obligated to at least listen to what I had to say.

I could feel the anxiety slipping through my system as I walked to Alice's room. I forced myself to at least appear calm, but it was getting harder and soon I was feeling stabs of pain in my chest from nervousness.

I kocked lightly on the door, and then poked my head in. I was right—Mom, Dad, Emmett, and Rosalie were all here. Though my nephew wasn't.

"Edward!" Alice gasps. No one else said a word. I was faced with four angry faced and Alice's ecstatic one.

"Hey."

"Some nurse told me you got arrested." Alice tells me, grinning. "How'd that work out for ya?"

"Pretty well, actually." I offer her a smile. "I'm not going to jail or anything for killing a person."

"You killed someone?" Rosalie demands. "As if you couldn't get any worse."

"He killed the person who did this to me, Rose." Alice explains unhappily.

"As far as anyone is concerned, _he_ did this to you." Rosalie retorts.

"Rose," Emmett says. Then he stands, looking at me. "Edward, join me in the hallway for a moment please?" he doesn't wait for a reply, instead he pushes past me into the hall and waits for me to follow him. He didn't carry an angry expression anymore, though he crossed his arms across his torso he was still neutral. "Chief Swan called me." Emmett says. "I dunno why he didn't call Mom or Dad."

"What did he say?"

"He explained everything your stupid ass did. Including with the criminals." Emmett shakes his head at me, and to my surprise, starts laughing. "What the hell man? An assassin who doesn't kill? If you're gonna be something, do it properly or not at all! And this girl you kidnapped, that was one hell of a story."

"What?" I was beyond confused. Was he laughing? He was obviously mocking me, but I couldn't tell if he was about to threaten me or not. Was he even angry?

"Bella spoke to me next. The girl you 'kidnapped'," he put his hands in the air to make quotation marks, rolling his eyes. "she's a good girl. I like her. She told me you said there were things we all probably regretted about what happened. You're right. I regret that I didn't help you. Everyone goes through something like what you did—a stage where your parents don't get you—and I was stupid enough to let you fight it alone, to hate you for the stupid stuff you did when it escalating, and I didn't realize that I had abandoned you in the process. Had I been there to help, things may have gone differently. I'll forget everything if you accept my apology for it. I know it'll be much harder with Mom and Dad, and I'll help you fight it out with them now to make up for the idiot I've been before."

"What changed your mind?"

"Your girl is one hell of a fighter. She yelled over me until I shut up and listened."

I laugh. "Yeah, that sounds like her. Thanks, Emmett."

He smiles, nodding, and then punches my shoulder. "You did good with Bella and making a life for yourself, minus the wimp assassin stuff. I'll never let you live that down."

I shake my head, laughing. "We'll see. I've got to talk to Mom and Dad."

"Yeah," Emmett nods, losing his smile. "Call me if you need backup."  
"Actually, you're going to be my backup. That's already decided."

Emmett nods, filled only with maturity.

I return back to the room, happy that I was able to get one person to understand—even though that was technically Bella's doing. "Mom, Dad, would you mind coming out to the hallway for a few minutes?" my parents looked at each other, and after a moment they stood up one by one and followed me outside. When we were in the hall, they look at me expectantly.

I start, knowing that they wouldn't say anything until I did. "I need to know what I have to do to earn your forgiveness. For everything that I've done. With Alice, now and before, with my friends, and all the fights we've had, with leaving, stealing the car, everything."

"What brought this on?" Dad asks, crossing his arms. He was angry, but he wasn't yelling or getting snappy. Yet.

"I killed a person who was detrimental to my life."

"You knew Alice's shooter before this incident?" Mom demands.

I nod. "Let's just say we were co-workers. It's a very long story, and if you need to hear it I'll tell you, but it's not important right now."  
"Emmett," Mom looks at him, not knowing what to do. He simply nods at her, and she turns back to me. "All I need, Edward, for you to have changed. And I need proof of this, going forward."

I nod. "I'll prove it to you then."  
"What is the deal with you and the girl? Isabella Swan."

"I was protecting her from the person that shot Alice. And myself, she wanted me dead as well." I tell her.

"Nothing's changed." Dad tells me. "Esme, Emmett, don't get too attached." then he leaves without another word.

"He'll come around eventually." Emmett tells me. "You got off pretty easy with me and Mom, remember that. Bella mostly got it from me, so you might want to buy her flowers also."

"Bella?" Mom asks, confused.

"Edward's dating the girl he kidnapped." Emmett snickers. "I've been given so much teasing material."

Mom offers me a small, tentative smile. "We'll figure things out, soon. Edward, we'll all talk more about this later. There are many things to discuss."

I nod. "I know."

"I'm glad you are trying to make amends." She reaches out, squeezing my hands gently, and then turns and walks in the direction Dad went.

Emmett pats me on the back. "I'll get Rose out of the room so you can see Alice." He goes into the room, and returned a moment later with Rosalie. Clearly, she had been left out of the loop with Emmett's phone call judging by the glares she was throwing at me. Emmett simply wrapped his arm around her, and gave me an encouraging smile.

I slip into the room, closing the door behind me. Alice was waiting for me, and a bright smile spread across her face when she saw me enter.

"I'm assuming good things happened?"

"Yes, actually. Emmett has returned to being my brother, and Mom is almost forgiving me. There are still stuff we discuss and Dad walked out."

"Darn—I thought I had him buttered up nicely." Alice scowls. "But at least it worked on Mom."

"What worked?" I question, settling down besides Alice. She grins at me.

"Oh, you know, just a little buttering up for you. I figured since this mess was so big a few people should help you sort it out—it's not totally your fault after all."

"Thanks Ally."

"No problem. Does this mean you're coming back to Port Angeles?" Alice asks me hopefully. I laugh, shaking my head.

"No, I'm going to stay here with Bella. I'm going to apply to Seattle University, get a real job, and I'll come to visit on the weekends."

Alice smiles even wider, if that was possible, and I saw a hint of pride in her eyes. "You're going to college?"

I nod. "Bella convinced me."

"Who is this Bella?" Alice laughs, and I could see a small tear seeping from her eye. I laugh, pressing my hand against her cheek, covering the droplet.

"You'll love her. She reminds me of you, and maybe that's why she saved me."

Alice nods, biting her lip. "I'm proud of you, and so is Emmett." then she starts laughing. "You should have seen Emmett on the phone earlier, he was yelling and kicking stuff and throwing things and a nurse told him he would have to leave if he kept yelling, but then he started laughing madly at whatever the person was saying to the point where he almost cried because it was so funny. And then he got all serious."

"He was on the phone with Bella." I chuckle. "She is the one that got him to forgive me—I'll have to thank her for that later."

"Now might be a good time." Alice whispers, nodding towards the door. Of course, as cliché as it was, Bella was standing there.

"Hey." she mutters, blushing slightly.

"Come in." I tell her, and when she gets close enough, I grab her hand, pulling her to my side. "Bella, meet Alice. Alice, this is Bella."

"Hello!" Alice chirps. "I've heard so much about you—mostly from the news, but it's still information."  
Bella laughs. "I won't be on the news much anymore, I guess you'll have to resort to other sources."

"Mhmm. Edward says we're going to be good friends, and I sincerely believe him."

"So do I." Bella agrees, smiling at me.

"And I'm assuming there is something going on between you two?" Alice grins.

Bella and I both laugh now.

"Yes, something like that." Bella answers. "It's a very good something."

"So many good things have happened today." Alice shakes her head, sighing in content.

"That's one way to put it." I tell her. She was absolutely right. Sure, I had committed murder, spent the day in police custody, and gotten Alice shot—but, Mom and Emmett forgave me, Tanya's record and my record were clean, Bella wouldn't have anymore interruptions in her life, Alice would live, and I somewhat had turned my life completely around in less than twenty-four hours. "It really is a good day."


	10. Epilogue: October 29

Chapter 9: Epilogue

Sunday, October 29th (1 Week Later)

"Got it?" I ask Emmett, opening the door to the passenger seat.

"Yup, just help Alice inside." he tells me, hauling all of Alice's things from the hospital to the front porch of the house.

"Yes, please help me." Alice peeps. She had already undone her seat belt, and now she just needed help getting up. It had been one week since she was shot, and even though she had mostly recovered, moving around was a pain and inconvenience for her. I lean down, helping her step out of the car, and supporting most of her weight as she stumbled to the house.

Once inside, Alice collapsed slowly onto the couch, exhausted from her walk. "Never again." she pants.

I smile. "Agreed."

The week Alice had spent in the hospital was filled with bonding between myself and the family. Dad had mostly stayed out of it, he was less hostile towards me but still hadn't forgiven me. Everyone eventually was told the entire story of Jane, my old job, and how I met Bella, and Emmett never missed an opportunity to laugh at me about it all. Mom was beyond proud of me that I had decided to attend college, and Bella's father eventually figured out that Bella and I were together. He didn't pull his gun out, threaten to kill me, or even threaten to send me to jail—he simply told me to take good care of Bella as I had already been doing and to ensure that she still visited all the time.

I met my nephew—Henry. He was two years old and a complete clown that we all enjoyed playing with. Rosalie stopped hating me, and she, like Emmett, enjoyed laughing at my failures but also wished me success in the future. Tanya was even finding a new beginning after her record was cleaned. She sold her house in a day, bought a plane ticket, and left Seattle. She checked in with me often, sending me pictures of the places she was. Eventually, she would return home and figure out what she wanted. But for now, she traveled and did all the things she couldn't do as an assassin.

"Go call Bella." Alice tells me. "Figure out when she is getting here—I'm bored already!"

I shake my head. "Bella is not for your entertainment, Alice."

"Oh shut up." Alice waves me away, shaking her head. I listen to her anyway, heading outside to the porch. It had been years since I stood on this porch feeling as happy as I did now. Mom wanted desperately for me to move back into the house, but Alice and I convinced her that I should continue to live in Seattle where I would build up the remnants of my old life into a more suitable, family-friendly life.

I pull my phone out, dialing in Bella's number.

"Edward," my father's voice was right behind me, so close that I swirled around in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine." I mutter, dropping my phone back into my pocket.

"I forgive you," he tells me. "and I am asking you for your forgiveness. There are many things that were handled badly, and this week is one of them. I deliberately pushed myself to ignore the things you have done to fix your mistakes and I cannot say that I have done the same. I'm proud of you, not of the things you have done but of what I know you will do in the future."

"Thank you." I respond, feeling an overwhelming amount of gratitude and, again, relief. I was feeling so much of relief this past week, and happiness and peace that I hadn't felt for years.

"I know everyone is saying this, and despite the things you've left behind, you have done well for yourself."  
I nod.

"Bella's here," Dad tells me as a corolla rolls up the driveway. "I'll be inside."

I wait on the porch for Bella, embracing her in my arms when she finally reaches me. I wrap my arms around her waist, planting a kiss on her lips. She smiles when I pull back, resting her head against my chest.

"I missed you." I mutter, pressing my face into her strawberry scented hair. She laughs.

"I've missed you as well. Was that your father you were talking to? It looked like a mostly civilized conversation, which is an excellent thing."  
"Oh, it was him. I think I'm back on good terms with everyone in my family."  
"It's about time." Bella grins. "That's amazing, Edward. I'm so proud of you."  
"They all keep saying I've done well for myself—ironic considering I almost got my sister killed."

"I don't think that's entirely what they are thinking of." Bella tells me. "You ran away from home and you have a house, a car, a girlfriend, and now you're getting an education. Plus, you aren't an addict or lunatic anymore."  
"I was never a lunatic." I laugh.

"You've protected the people you love, got yourself out of jail—and me and Tanya—and you've made up with the people you wronged, you admitted to your mistakes and worked to fix them. That's doing very well—most people don't get anywhere close to where you have gotten after they run away. Trust me, I know. Most of them end up being conversations between my Dad and I cause they are so insane they are conversation worthy after they get arrested."

I shake my head, laughing. "I'll consider what they say. For now, you go see Alice. She wants to torture you some more with fashion and stuff."

Bella laughs, but then sighs. "We're leaving in an hour though, I don't want to be tortured too much."  
"Actually, my mom offered for us to stay for dinner."

Bella's eyes light up, and I was sure the offer made her excited because it meant my mom was wanting to really fix our relationship. "Sure!" Bella gives me a quick kiss and then runs inside.

My family was right, Bella was right, and Tanya was right. I had done well for myself. I had fixed my life. I was worth forgiving and I was worth caring for. My family's hope wasn't misplaced as I had originally thought. They let me make my mistakes, or rather they couldn't help me when I did, and I eventually returned to them and they allowed me to. Alice certainly, and unfortunately, pair for my mistakes, but she was also the one pushing and lobbying for my forgiveness and that made her the best of them all.


	11. Author's Note

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for reading my story! I sincerely hope that you enjoyed it. If you did, leave a review! And if you didn't, leave a review! I love constructive criticism cause it really helps with my writing, so please send a message/leave a review and help me out!

Be sure to also check out my other story "My Evanescent Love", that one is about Alice and Jasper. I'm planning to write a story focused on one of the wolves soon, but I'm still trying to find a plot! If any of you have any ideas and want to share, please do! And if I do use your idea, I'll make sure to credit you for it!

Have a nice day!

Silvermist225


End file.
